The Strikes Thread

[Essexmaniac]

Mick Lynch's twin brother , who's a Tory, also supports the postal workers.

[old fart]

Meanwhile Daniel Křetínský’s coining in the dividend payments

[Cornelius Beal]

Meanwhile Daniel Křetínský’s coining in the dividend payments

Aided by our sell all our assests government.

[sendô]

The NEU have announced a round of teachers strikes which includes the school Sendo Jrs attend.

One of the strikes is on Mrs Sendo's birthday. She is not amused.

[hammers92]

The NEU have announced a round of teachers strikes which includes the school Sendo Jrs attend.

One of the strikes is on Mrs Sendo's birthday. She is not amused.

A lot of genuine conflict in teacher’s minds on this one. Torn between wanting to strike and not wishing to cause disruption in children’s lives which makes the decision to vote with their feet even more damning.

There are some schools putting pressure on teachers not to strike and threatening to effectively “blacklist” them.

[Col Hammer]

Thankfully my lads school all teachers have decided not to strike so fully open

Seems very divided this strike

[mumbles87]

A lot of genuine conflict in teacher’s minds on this one. Torn between wanting to strike and not wishing to cause disruption in children’s lives which makes the decision to vote with their feet even more damning.

There are some schools putting pressure on teachers not to strike and threatening to effectively “blacklist” them.

My wife's / daughter's school sent a lovely letter out explaining they will close to all children not entitled to free school meals

"Taking industrial action in schools is very rare. The unions involved in industrial action believe that it has got to a point where schools, along with many other public sectors, are having funding reduced in real terms to a level that is becoming detrimental to the education of our children. This includes the ability to recruit and retain staff. It is becoming increasingly difficult to do the very best for our children with the resources we are given. Our staff who are taking industrial action are feeling the effects of this, in a profession they came into to make a difference, and therefore they feel, reluctantly, that it is right to sacrifice a day of their pay to demonstrate this."

What a correct and polite way of summing up the situation

[Hummer_I_mean_Hammer]

I recall (possibly inaccurately) that my time at secondary was decimated by teacher strike action & working to rule. No extracurricular activities, so no sports, etc. no after school activities (managed to still do bloody detentions though, didn't they!!), no sports days, no swimming due to the pools being a bit of a distance from the school, etc.

NUT was the main culprit IIRC

Pretty crap TBH.

[ironsonthebrain]

A lot of genuine conflict in teacher’s minds on this one. Torn between wanting to strike and not wishing to cause disruption in children’s lives which makes the decision to vote with their feet even more damning.

There are some schools putting pressure on teachers not to strike and threatening to effectively “blacklist” them.

This is probably because some Academy Trust CEOs are bullying bastards. Particularly towards NEU reps and members.
Trust me, I know.

[ironsonthebrain]

I recall (possibly inaccurately) that my time at secondary was decimated by teacher strike action & working to rule. No extracurricular activities, so no sports, etc. no after school activities (managed to still do bloody detentions though, didn't they!!), no sports days, no swimming due to the pools being a bit of a distance from the school, etc.

NUT was the main culprit IIRC

Pretty crap TBH.

I'm guessing working conditions , salary failing to keep up with inflation back then was pretty crap for the teachers eh?
Gutted for you about missing the swimming though..........

[ironsonthebrain]

Thankfully my lads school all teachers have decided not to strike so fully open

Seems very divided this strike

Might be a case of what union the teachers are in.
Where my wife works it's a mix of NASUWT and NEU. Both ballots voted heavily in favour of strike action but only the NEU reached the government imposed threshold.
Maybe in your son's school the teachers are NASUWT members. NASUWT members who actually could be bothered to vote in the ballot were something like 9 to 1 in favour of strike action. Not a union known for its militancy. Maybe enough is enough.

[delbert]

I'm guessing working conditions , salary failing to keep up with inflation back then was pretty crap for the teachers eh?
Gutted for you about missing the swimming though..........

The NUT were known to be rather militant, National Union of Trots I seem to recall they were labelled...........

[Hummer_I_mean_Hammer]

I'm guessing working conditions , salary failing to keep up with inflation back then was pretty crap for the teachers eh?

I would not know, was only young and not that interested in politics.

Gutted for you about missing the swimming though..........

Why dig me out on swimming? Wasn't just the swimming I missed, it was a huge amount of sports training and trials.

[hammers92]

There’s also a heavy regional variation in choosing whether to strike. If you’re in a quieter part of the country where a combination of (and this isn’t limited to), good leadership, good parents and manageable class sizes you’re less likely to feel that you need to strike.

My wife’s school is an utter shitshow. Can’t really begin to describe how much of a mess it is.

[Clacton-ammer]

Know 3 different peeps that work in 3 different schools, 2 teachers and a teaching assistant for special needs kids, all 3 say similar, it's criminal what is happening in their schools. From budget cuts, classes too big, kids that need 1 to 1 that do not have the correct paperwork as it takes a few years for these kids to have the right prognosis for ADHD or whatever they may or may not have, thus disrupting the class as no 1 to 1 supplied. Parents not giving a f**k making it more difficult for the teachers/school to help.

Once class has over 50% of their kids on the social services watch list..50%!

I guess like everything there are good/bad/average teachers/head teachers/schools/support staff, but education is suffering, and has been for many years.

We run a decent sized apprentice intake every year, we work with the local schools so we get suggested the best of the young people they have. The lack of maths/science is quite shocking at times, and these kids are coming to us with good grades!??!

I have no idea what the answer is for Education, or the NHS for that, or other industries, but it has to change somehow. Are Strikes the way forward, probably not, but what else can they do to raise the problems and awareness?????

[chelmsfordhammer91]

My wife won't be striking, mostly due to not wanting to impact the children, partly due to not being paid and partly due to the 'leaflet' the union sent only seemed to reference pay.

She is a believer that you've agreed your salary, you're not guarenteed rises on the back of that so find better elsewhere if you want more.

[bubbles1966]

She is a believer that you've agreed your salary, you're not guarenteed rises on the back of that so find better elsewhere if you want more.

That's where nationalisation works against the employee - all the employers are offering the same thing in terms of paybands in spite of shortages - it's a de facto cartel where the 'price of teaching' is fixed.

A proper competitive market is better for the worker when there is a labour shortfall and their skills are in demand.

[hammers92]

My wife won't be striking, mostly due to not wanting to impact the children, partly due to not being paid and partly due to the 'leaflet' the union sent only seemed to reference pay.

She is a believer that you've agreed your salary, you're not guarenteed rises on the back of that so find better elsewhere if you want more.

Each to their own. And your wife’s decision is hers to make alone, nobody else’s.

Even with a pay rise, the problems in education still exist. The bullying and harassment, over stretched resources, large class sizes and minimal support staff.

Address these systemic issues and I think a fair chunk of teachers would be happy with what they’re paid.

It’s the same with the NHS really. Politicians are happy to defer the issues, paper over the cracks and leave the mess to someone else to sort out.

[mumbles87]

My wife won't be striking, mostly due to not wanting to impact the children, partly due to not being paid and partly due to the 'leaflet' the union sent only seemed to reference pay.

She is a believer that you've agreed your salary, you're not guarenteed rises on the back of that so find better elsewhere if you want more.

That's mental, say she started on 30k 20 years ago and goes with that no rise mentally.. the world doesn't stop... Inflation changes.. making her money worth less

That is a crazy thought process

I started in 2003 my grade I'm in now I'd be on £40,000 less if inflation rises weren't applied. The wage would be below the average wage for London now.

So rather than a decent job , I'd be in a below average job and nobody would want to do it ..

If the world didn't have inflation then I'd agree with her stance but she's a public servant not a private sector worker where you can negotiate a rise, or leave for a similar job. You go to serve and the minimum that should be awarded is inflation.. good enough for the MPs

[chelmsfordhammer91]

That's mental, say she started on 30k 20 years ago and goes with that no rise mentally.. the world doesn't stop... Inflation changes.. making her money worth less

That is a crazy thought process

I started in 2003 my grade I'm in now I'd be on £40,000 less if inflation rises weren't applied. The wage would be below the average wage for London now.

So rather than a decent job , I'd be in a below average job and nobody would want to do it ..

If the world didn't have inflation then I'd agree with her stance but she's a public servant not a private sector worker where you can negotiate a rise, or leave for a similar job. You go to serve and the minimum that should be awarded is inflation.. good enough for the MPs

I do mostly agree. I'm against any guarentee to match inflation as a pay rise though.

She started teaching (bog standard NQT, which they've renamed nowadays) about 9 or ten years ago. She worked her way up to currently being a deputy head for the last 5 years, so her pay had gone up with each promotion. Based on that alone, her experience would be entirely different to someone who had chosen/or couldn't progress from staying as a 'standard' teacher.

Tbh, I don't think she really understands what striking is all about and that it isn't just some rage against the machine b*llocks.

The school she works at is in a sh*t hole, woth the majority not having English as a first language which makes a lot of teaching difficult. Behavioural issues, violence, abuse and social welfare issues galore to deal with...and that's mostly the parents!