Teachers vote to strike.

Indeed.

Being a child of the 80's I bet I lost a years worth of education due to teachers striking.

It'll affect the poorest kids most, but that's its the price worth paying according to the Unions.

That said, I believe in the right to strike.
 
Curryman said:
Our children have missed a great deal of schooling due to lockdown and the pandemic and now this.
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Yeah the Tories are at it again. They are playing at this. With peoples lives in the NHS, transport infrastructure & greener travel, with the rail workers, now our kids education, in fact all public servants. They’d sort it out if it meant a quick buck to some already wealthy lord’s & ladies, who happened to be cronies.
 
Wizaard said:
The strikes will be on a rolling regional basis, so children won't miss much schooling.

Who is damaging the children and their future more? This Government with 12 years of deliberate running down of funding in education as well as all aspects of public service, or a day's strike by teachers?
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A days strike by the teachers
 
At the end of the Labour government in 2008/9, teachers were paid 1.67 times the national average salary. Today they are paid 1.41 times. They now sometimes have c.60k (closer to 80 depending on subject) of debt that comes out monthly. They work ridiculous hours, have to deal with students and now parents emailing constantly. They are absolutely right to strike, as are nurses who have had the grants removed and are in a similar and sometimes worse situation. Where’s the money coming from? Where did the handouts for ppe come from? Where is the money paid to rail companies to compensate for strikes, around 25million a day (https://news.sky.com/story/train-strikes-why-the-numbers-dont-add-up-to-a-rail-deal-12781077) coming from? It’s all bollocks, and the money is always there when the government want it to be.
I’m not a teacher.
 
Sooty59 said:
Yeah the Tories are at it again. They are playing at this. With peoples lives in the NHS, transport infrastructure & greener travel, with the rail workers, now our kids education, in fact all public servants. They’d sort it out if it meant a quick buck to some already wealthy lord’s & ladies, who happened to be cronies.
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Yeah, the Tories are to blame for all the strikes including the teachers in Scotland the NHS strikes in Scotland and Wales and I'm sure many others.
 
Wizaard said:
The strikes will be on a rolling regional basis, so children won't miss much schooling.

Who is damaging the children and their future more? This Government with 12 years of deliberate running down of funding in education as well as all aspects of public service, or a day's strike by teachers?
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and the teachers unions weren't to blame for anything during the COVID debacle?
 
Curryman said:
Yeah, the Tories are to blame for all the strikes including the teachers in Scotland the NHS strikes in Scotland and Wales and I'm sure many others.
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Yep how much must all this disruption be costing in monetary terms & lives, that never seems to be mentioned, it’s just become a heels dug in stance from the government. This whole mess needs a compromise solution, similar to deals in the private sector ie % + a lump sum one off payment. As for Scotland & Wales, isn’t the spending linked to the English government.
 
Bend it like Suddick said:
Nope, at every opportunity they seemed to want to close the schools, or pupils to stay at home or teachers stay at home against Govt guidelines. The unions were also ambivalent in recommending PPE and hand washing procedures initially.
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Masking kids,social distance, closing schools etc what a complete fuck up but we have to close because we might kill the teacher or their granny they might go to home spread the disease to die.
Wankers the lot of them with this nonsense.
 
What sort of reply is that Lytham? It's a look at me post . If you have nothing to add it's best to stay out of it
 
I have an interest in this due to the difficulties my grandson is just about coming to terms with. He missed school for around 18 months due to illlness and has since the lockdowns finished been slowly coming to terms with trying to get back to a normal routine. He had been seeing a specialist to help him at his school. This will no doubt affect his self confidence just before he sits his mock O Levels and I am extremely concerned.
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
Do people think strikers just want an unpaid day off?

What happened to solidarity with your fellow working man? Except I suppose half of you aren't working anymore.
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...fellow working man?....and woman?....and anybody identifying as neither?....or in Scotland?😉😁
 
Curryman said:
What sort of reply is that Lytham? It's a look at me post . If you have nothing to add it's best to stay out of it
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I'll comment on whatever I choose and it's not as if any sensible reasoning is going to make any difference to the debate.

Having tried for years to get some types to appreciate why people strike it's really not worth the bother anymore as some are just wrapped up in their own concerns or believe the media slant.

If you want to compare who's had the more sensible debates over the years then do have a little trawl back.

In the meantime I'll repeat my question above, do you think teachers are striking just so they can have an unpaid day off? Let's expand it a little, do you know the reasoning behind the action, have you asked anyone in the profession why they're striking? You say you don't respect teachers these days, so why? Do you not believe dedicated professionals should have a right to stand up for their profession and if not why not?

For someone accusing me of not adding to the debate, you haven't really explained yourself much beyond 'teachers bad now'.
 
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poolseasider said:
He loves these type of posts without actual offering anything to the debate.
I raise Gammon bait for Mr Wokey.
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I offer plenty, certainly more than you, but sometimes the little gang of angry types are just more fun to poke with a stick, they then all huddle together, as your post proves.
 
Seaside Aggro said:
At the end of the Labour government in 2008/9, teachers were paid 1.67 times the national average salary. Today they are paid 1.41 times. They now sometimes have c.60k (closer to 80 depending on subject) of debt that comes out monthly. They work ridiculous hours, have to deal with students and now parents emailing constantly. They are absolutely right to strike, as are nurses who have had the grants removed and are in a similar and sometimes worse situation. Where’s the money coming from? Where did the handouts for ppe come from? Where is the money paid to rail companies to compensate for strikes, around 25million a day (https://news.sky.com/story/train-strikes-why-the-numbers-dont-add-up-to-a-rail-deal-12781077) coming from? It’s all bollocks, and the money is always there when the government want it to be.
I’m not a teacher.
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You’re not wrong about the ridiculous hours. 9 til 3 with an hours lunch and two additional breaks thrown in. Add a third of the year off on leave and it’s a wonder any of them make it to pension age 😀
 
Lytham_fy8 said:
I'll comment on whatever I choose and it's not as if any sensible reasoning is going to make any difference to the debate.

Having tried for years to get some types to appreciate why people strike it's really not worth the bother anymore as some are just wrapped up in their own concerns or believe the media slant.

If you want to compare who's had the more sensible debates over the years then do have a little trawl back.

In the meantime I'll repeat my question above, do you think teachers are striking just so they can have an unpaid day off? Let's expand it a little, do you know the reasoning behind the action, have you asked anyone in the profession why they're striking? You say you don't respect teachers these days, so why? Do you not believe dedicated professionals should have a right to stand up for their profession and if not why not?

For someone accusing me of not adding to the debate, you haven't really explained yourself much beyond 'teachers bad now'.
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I used to respect pensioners but criticism of workers for protesting at more than a decade of below inflation pay rises and a degradation of working conditions whilst, over the same time period, receiving the pension triple lock then I can't say the same now.
 
In a nutshell, teachers are striking because:

-Pay hasn't kept up with inflation for the last 10-12 years, don't be fooled by a 5% rise at the end of last year.
-The pay rise comes out of school budgets, without any extra being put in, meaning that schools will be looking at cutting back on resources, including teaching assistants and teachers. This ultimately means a poorer standard of education for your children.
-teachers are leaving the profession in droves due to working conditions and expectations - how many other jobs do you work without pay after hours in the week, and a day on the weekend? How many of you go into work in your holidays (which we're not paid for, pay is worked out pro-rata over the year)
-teachers never came into the profession to get rich, but they did expect a fair wage, not in real terms a pay cut each year which is what has happened.

From my point of view, i would strike over the conditions more than the pay, which after having worked for 22 years in schools, are worse than they've ever been with social issues, more and more heaped on school to sort out, all whilst resources aren't there.

Please think of this before you start spouting the usual ignorant 'lazy teachers' and 'they have more holidays than Jet2' rubbish.
 
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I fully support their right to strike, they work hard and in some cases terrible conditions. It is going to affect kids, but also the working man and woman who will have to take the day off work to look after them. That being said, it does feel like we are being dragged back to the 70's by the Trade Unions who are intent on bringing on a general election via coordinated strike action due to the ineptitude and criminality of the Tories its likely to happen. Roll on Polling Day #VoteNoneOfTheAbove
 
Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
In a nutshell, teachers are striking because:

-Pay hasn't kept up with inflation for the last 10-12 years, don't be fooled by a 5% rise at the end of last year.
-The pay rise comes out of school budgets, without any extra being put in, meaning that schools will be looking at cutting back on resources, including teaching assistants and teachers. This ultimately means a poorer standard of education for your children.
From my point of view, i would strike over the conditions more than the pay, which after having worked for 22 years in schools, are worse than they've ever been with social issues, more and more heaped on school to sort out, all whilst resources aren’t there.
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Failure to invest in these kids properly now, especially those with social issues, will always end up costing society far more in the long run during their lifetimes.
 
1966_and_all_that said:
Walthamstow_Seasider said:
I used to respect pensioners but criticism of workers for protesting at more than a decade of below inflation pay rises and a degradation of working conditions whilst, over the same time period, receiving the pension triple lock then I can't say the same now.
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If you consider Pensioners to be living it up on a basic pension, less than the minimum wage, triple lock or not, then you should try living on it. I'm fortunate in having a couple of private pensions which top the OA Pension up, but even with them we have to be extremely prudent in what we do and what we can do.
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Junior_BentsPlatformShoes said:
In a nutshell, teachers are striking because:

-Pay hasn't kept up with inflation for the last 10-12 years, don't be fooled by a 5% rise at the end of last year.
-The pay rise comes out of school budgets, without any extra being put in, meaning that schools will be looking at cutting back on resources, including teaching assistants and teachers. This ultimately means a poorer standard of education for your children.
-teachers are leaving the profession in droves due to working conditions and expectations - how many other jobs do you work without pay after hours in the week, and a day on the weekend? How many of you go into work in your holidays (which we're not paid for, pay is worked out pro-rata over the year)
-teachers never came into the profession to get rich, but they did expect a fair wage, not in real terms a pay cut each year which is what has happened.

From my point of view, i would strike over the conditions more than the pay, which after having worked for 22 years in schools, are worse than they've ever been with social issues, more and more heaped on school to sort out, all whilst resources aren't there.

Please think of this before you start spouting the usual ignorant 'lazy teachers' and 'they have more holidays than Jet2' rubbish.
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Well said 👏
 
Memphisboy said:
You’re not wrong about the ridiculous hours. 9 til 3 with an hours lunch and two additional breaks thrown in. Add a third of the year off on leave and it’s a wonder any of them make it to pension age 😀
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I'm not a teacher but when my son was at school I saw how dedicated they were and how much time and effort it took. The days of 9-3 are a thing of the past with lesson planning, homework marking generally being done outside those hours, pressure of league tables and ofsted hanging over them. Outside school activities and weekend work for sports. Not a job I'd be interested in. I recall in the 80s the headmaster and deputy head lived in the better area in big houses (I knew where they lived) that wouldn't happen these days as they couldn't afford it.
 
Memphisboy said:
You’re not wrong about the ridiculous hours. 9 til 3 with an hours lunch and two additional breaks thrown in. Add a third of the year off on leave and it’s a wonder any of them make it to pension age 😀
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Start work at 7.45am, finish between 5.50pm and 6.00pm. Go home, have tea, then spend another hour/two hours on laptop or marking. Not to mention Sunday afternoon planning. Now off to do lunchtime duty to cover an absence.
 
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I know a couple of teachers who have sacked it off because of the pay not matching the hours/stress involved. We need to attract and keep good people in the profession and the system seems to be failing as the DfE is consistently missing it's recruitment targets.

They Government need to pay up or everyone's kids and the future of the country will suffer. Don't say we've not got the cash, we all know it's there and it's being passed around between mates at the top table. Sort it out.
 
TheRealKingKenny said:
I know a couple of teachers who have sacked it off because of the pay not matching the hours/stress involved. We need to attract and keep good people in the profession and the system seems to be failing as the DfE is consistently missing it's recruitment targets.

They Government need to pay up or everyone's kids and the future of the country will suffer. Don't say we've not got the cash, we all know it's there and it's being passed around between mates at the top table. Sort it out.
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I decided to leave teaching, early, after nearly 30 years in Primary education. At the time of leaving, I was Head of EYFS and KS1 and I believe I was considered to be a very good teacher with an unblemished record. I didn't leave because of kids (or parents!!) behaviour or the pay (which was never great for the hours involved or responsibilities of the job tbh)... As with many of my colleagues, I left primarily because of the expectations of the job - in terms of the ridiculous levels of internal and external scrutiny and accountability, tracking, assessment, planning requirements etc. This resulted in intense stress during term time and working 60 to 70 hours a week. Having managed to pay the mortgage off, I was able to escape and I'm now doing a job for half the money but am far happier.
Apparently, as well as us older ones leaving before we were expected to, more than 50% of new teachers leave within 5 years of starting what they expected to be (in most cases) their lifetime career. This after having spent either 3 or 4 years training to be a teacher as a student. I worry for the future of state education in Britain. Just one of several public sector departments in Britain, of course, in dire straights. How did it come to this?
At least a decent pay rise will keep a few more teachers in their jobs, for now - but other issues within the profession need to be addressed pretty soon too, in my opinion, if we are to have a healthy society going forward.
 
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