Public Sector Strike (Teachers)

I was just wondering how many people this has effected. I've had to take the day off work today as most teachers in our local Primary School are on strike.

Are you suffering the effects of strike action and do you support them?

T

No support from me, they earn more than me, dont have to work the anti social hours i do,i have no pension top ups from my company and if i have to work till im 66 so should they, dont know when they are well of.

No support from me either im afraid.

When these people took the job on they knew how much they would be earning ect so dont cry about it now.

They get fantastic paid holidays and there working hours are very good.

The way I see it is, if they dont like it then go find another job.

No one forced them to sign the contract.

We're inconvenienced for 1 day  :cry:  - the proposed changes to public sector pensions will affect the rest of their lives.  

Who cares if they earn more than you/have more holidays than you etc etc. Perhaps you should get a better job?

interesting how 8 people have voted and only 3 added replies .. i'm fortunate enough that my 2 kids have left school so it has no effect on me but like already said they are well paid with plenty of holidays etc .. they should try a job swap with me for a week they would never strike again ..

and they certainly don't earn more than i do and it might only be for 1 day thus far but come on, the way the country is at the moment money is tight enough for all the families of the kids that they signed a contract to teach ..

sack the lot of them for breaching there working contracts .. won't help short term but they will know better in future ..

As far as im concerned that sort of job is done for the love of teaching first, then the pay and conditions second.  Same goes for any public service (Im ex armed forces so know all about how it feels to be paid crap etc) The public sector has benefited with job security, large pensions and excellent holidays for years.  The government is not going to pour money into a loss making institution during these times - everyone has had to tighten their belts.

GavB95 said

We're inconvenienced for 1 day  :cry:  - the proposed changes to public sector pensions will affect the rest of their lives.  

Who cares if they earn more than you/have more holidays than you etc etc. Perhaps you should get a better job?

I dont care how many holidays they have or uf they earm more than me.

If they were forced to work long hours or had poor holidays ect then maybe I would support them.

I dont see why there complaining.

There holidays are fantastic and they earn a tidy wage.

So every teacher on strike should go back and do the job THEY signed up to.

If THEY dont like it (and they obviously dont because there on strike) then THEY should look for another job instead of stopping kids from learning.

What a nice example they are setting the kids!!!!!!!!!!!!

The message there giving out to chilldren is :-

If your not happy with something in life, chuck your toys out your pram untill you get what you want.

They should go and do the job there paid for.

Ive spent most of my working life in schools as a caretaker and teaching assistant and ive seen teachers and support staff deal with stressful situations every day. They work long hours sometimes more than 12 hours a day trying to give our children a good education. they dont come in at 9 and leave at 3 and most of there breaks during the day are spent dealing with troublesome kids. The term breaks are usually spent constructing the next terms work, sports days, fetes and the 6 weeks over summer for the kids become a fortnight for the teachers if they are lucky.

I dont think anyone should judge the position that they are in until they have seen first hand the effort that teachers put in.

I support them fully.

Raffles said

Ive spent most of my working life in schools as a caretaker and teaching assistant and ive seen teachers and support staff deal with stressful situations every day. They work long hours sometimes more than 12 hours a day trying to give our children a good education. they dont come in at 9 and leave at 3 and most of there breaks during the day are spent dealing with troublesome kids. The term breaks are usually spent constructing the next terms work, sports days, fetes and the 6 weeks over summer for the kids become a fortnight for the teachers if they are lucky.

I dont think anyone should judge the position that they are in until they have seen first hand the effort that teachers put in.

I support them fully.

No one forced them to sign the contract.

Raffles said

teachers and support staff deal with stressful situations every day.

Are you serious? its no walk in the park but come on??? dealing with stressful situations is being a police officer, a fire fighter or a soldier not standing in front of a whiteboard teaching maths.

As has been said, if you don't like it off you go…. there are plenty of people that would kill to be a teacher.

If I went on strike tomorrow I would be in breach of my contract and therefore loose my job, which is fair enough.

But because they have a union behind them its all ok.

They should make an example of 1 of them and sack them.

Just like we would be sacked

Also another point is.

Most schools are UNDERACHIEVING.

What right does someone have to demand MORE when they aint achieving there targets.

It's not just the teachers thats on strike today !! public sector works are facing big cuts to the Pensions that they have paid into over a number of years, been told to work longer (years) pay more into the pension and get less at the end by cutting upto £30,000 off the lump sum and taxing the rest.

I know some people will say Good I don't get that but then they don't pay 7% (currently) of there pay into a pension.

Police officers pay 11% of there pay into a pension which is currently under review again with big cuts in the retirement fund and increase in what they pay into it. however they can't strike.

How would you like to be told thanks for the 40 yrs service, but now we're cutting your pension and making you work another 6 yrs and taking more money off you.

No support from me as well because the current pension system is not sustainable.
Not effected either as no kids.

Sharon works in the public sector (County Council) and no doubt be asked to strike in the coming months…

If you compare what I have to contribute to my pension pot compared to what she has to contribute and the amount available at retirement, then you start to realise why the current system is not sustainable.

I don't think that what the job is should be brought in to the argument, because that is your own choice in life. It is interesting that there are a lot of public sector workers that retire early, take their pension and then double dip by coming back as consultants for a few years - while there is nothing wrong with that and good on the people that manage to do it, it must point to the fact that the pensions are too comfortable and make that option too easy.

My professional body would not let me strike and my company would just sack me if I did.

Well at least it is a sunny day T :-)

jacob said

Police officers pay 11% of there pay into a pension which is currently under review again with big cuts in the retirement fund and increase in what they pay into it. however they can't strike.

How would you like to be told thanks for the 40 yrs service, but now we're cutting your pension and making you work another 6 yrs and taking more money off you.

Yes but here is the rub, those pensions have a guaranteed return where as private sector and personal pensions are at the mercy of the stock market. I have to plan for my retirement by choosing the funds to invest in, these can go up as well as down, at some point i have to start converting my fund to cash so that I can fix my retirement income.

For the Police, after 25 years they retire and get a good pension, most are only in their late forties. They have a 60ths scheme so get over half of their salary as a pension and can go and get another job. Tell me where you can invest 11% of your salary over 25 years and get such a deal - we would all sign up !! It is a hard job, I know because my brother is one… I could not do what he does.
Again the argument is not the job, it is the sustainability of paying the pensions…

BigNormRivage said

GavB95 said

We're inconvenienced for 1 day  :cry:  - the proposed changes to public sector pensions will affect the rest of their lives.  

Who cares if they earn more than you/have more holidays than you etc etc. Perhaps you should get a better job?

I dont care how many holidays they have or uf they earm more than me.

If they were forced to work long hours or had poor holidays ect then maybe I would support them.

I dont see why there complaining.

There holidays are fantastic and they earn a tidy wage.

The reason they are striking is because of proposed changes to pensions, it's got nothing to do with cuts to pay or holidays.  :roll: The change to the schemes from DB to DC are inevitable - it's been happening throughout the private sector and like it or lump it, it's happening. The issue is that the Public sector will have to increase their contributions to their scheme in order to stay in - and not all of them will be able to afford to do that.

MP's are also public sector but they are not making the same changes to their pension scheme as they are to the rest of the public sector - and their scheme is the most generous! How's that right?

We all know mp,s of all parties have different laws etc to the rest of us.

abfmk1 said

We all know mp,s of all parties have different laws etc to the rest of us.

Thats why spirits and cigars hardly get touched upon when the budget is done.

Lee_dub said

Raffles said

teachers and support staff deal with stressful situations every day.

Are you serious? its no walk in the park but come on??? dealing with stressful situations is being a police officer, a fire fighter or a soldier not standing in front of a whiteboard teaching maths.

As has been said, if you don't like it off you go…. there are plenty of people that would kill to be a teacher.

What experience do you have trying to keep 30 plus kids focused on one task????
Do you have children of your own????

Kids are hard work. Mine drive me mad all day long and if it wasn't for the fact that i have a school to send them to i think i would have gone mad by now.

Im not denying that coppers and soldiers have it hard but don't assume that teaching is eas . You cant compare the too with each other they are worlds apart. Its not just standing at the front of a class its dealing with social interactions and that is the most difficult thing. If the kids were well behaved and intent on study then yeah the job would be a bit easier but they aint.

Like i said don't judge unless you know what is involved in teaching a large group of unruly, uninterested teenagers who think education is a joke. These people really do have a hard time and i know that from personal experience. Ive seen first hand what a hard job it is so i can make an informed educated opinion.

And whoever said sack the lot needs to get real. Giving teachers the elbow would ruin this country for the future. Our education system is not the best in the world but its something and we should be grateful we have it.

And whoever said sack the lot needs to get real. Giving teachers the elbow would ruin this country for the future. Our education system is not the best in the world but its something and we should be grateful we have it.

what would you be saying if this country was about to be invaded and all the soldiers said sod it were going on strike ??

real teachers dedicated to the job who took the job to teach our children should never do something like this for personal gain, i think its a selfish act and therefore deserve to lose there jobs, lets then see them get a harder working job with less money and even less money than that when they have to keep having days off work for teachers going on strike !!

there public sector paid for by me and every other hard working member of this fine country, whats the chances of getting a tax rebate for today then do you think ?