Teachers' strike (comment made on the radio)

A teacher called in to the radio and was saying that the reason he was going on strike was because his pension fund is not all there, and that by going on strike the government would see that he and his fellow teachers are unhappy.

The teacher was only interested in his pension, despite being asked several times where the money is to come from to pay it, (his answer was that the government will "find the money")

The presenter mentioned that the cost of living has gone up, and that pension pots have "shrunk" but the teacher could not for love nor money understand that this country does not have the money to pay his pension as it was, he kept saying the government will have to pay it.

why will they have to pay it and what with?

I some times wonder about those in the "public sector"

 

Dear strikers, please remember that there are 2,600,000 people out there who would very much like your job.

 

Why not offer the teachers :-

• 20% To be made redundant , like most other industries over the last 3 years.
• Virtual , compulsory reduced pension
• Another 20% of the jobs given to eastern European workers
• Continually increasing production targets
• 26 days holiday a year
• A three shift system

I think this should be offered to them :yess: And when they do go on strike 2.6 million people will slam the door shut after them. They must realise they have no , zero , zilch , none, public support !

If this post sound a little bitter , its because it is :gaagh:

 

The reasoning seems to be that the pension was part of the deal when they signed up for the job, and now the government is going back on that contract. Of course, those of us who work in the private sector have long been used to the melancholy idea that you sign up for a lot of things which don't actually happen, and that pension providers etc are much happier to take your money than to cough up. Traditionally, good pensions were the consolation prize for the modest salaries which teachers commanded. But this distinction between public and private has long gone.

We have some close relatives who are retired teachers. They started drawing full pensions whilst still in their fifties. They moan constantly that their pensions 'only just cover the basics'. (They have a large family home and two holiday homes.) They also keep telling OH that he works too hard and should slow down. However often he tells them that it's just not possible to go to your boss and ask to work at a slower pace, or negotiate a job share (I won't get started on teachers with job skives/shares) they simply refuse to understand. They also think that he is somehow exaggerating the meagre nature of his pension pot.

I wouldn't like to be in charge of thirty kids all day and I think teaching is a difficult job. However, things are pretty tough for all of us at the moment. I think they should quit whinging and just get on with things.

 

If you saw (or perhaps you have) the curriculum for some of the 'maintstream' subjects, together with all the totally irrelevant so-called subjects youngesters are fed these days, coupled with the poor standard of some teachers - the sooner they go on strike the better, at least that way some of our young people might have a fighting chance of an education which is relevant.

 

A number of trades and other Union bodies are in dispute as well as Teachers, don't forget.

Contract Electricians (my Son included) and other trades are being told - by their Governing Body (the JIB) - that they have to adopt new conditions which removes their National rate of pay and overtime rates.
Employers are going to be able to set their own pay rates, travel conditions etc. which are likely to go close to minimum wage to enable "competitiveness".
They already have no Sickness benefits and Pensions (unless privately arranged) and are being expected to agree to a massive pay cut.

They are NOT pleased, but don't have Union support, Public awareness etc.
If they strike they will not get paid. If they refuse to agree to the new conditions their contracts can be terminated and they will be out of work.

A long standing National Agreement is looking likely to be binned, because the Employers feel so inclined. Many of these guys are under 40 with families and large Mortgages (as a result of earlier inflationary measures).

If thousands of these guys are forced to go Self employed, because they can't afford to remain as a Contractor, there is a high likelihood they will end up Bankrupt, like many small businesses that don't have the financial cushion to absorb cash flow problems caused by the larger companies that insist on 90+ days to settle their bills.

Rant Over

 

Teachers are not worried about the kids they teach because the job ceased to be any kind of vocation long ago. Fidgetsmum is right that the curriculum is stuffed full of garbage and tick-box stuff, so maybe no one is missing much by not turning up for another day in la-la land. I refer the interested reader to Rod Liddle's excellent blog:-


My daughter’s end-of-term report confirms that she is being taught by alien reptiles | The Spectator

http://www.spectator.co.uk/rodliddle/7233528/tales-of-cocaine-teachers-edition.thtml

 

I am a teacher, and was willing to strike in June to stand up for my rights. It would be pretty supine to do nothing, and then complain about being walked over. At 57, I have seen the goal posts for my pension (state and personal) move time and time again. Is it right to do this to people at an age where they are unable to compensate for it by taking other financial measures? I don't think so.

Also, my pension is not sponging, an unfair advantage or a handout. It is deferred salary, which I have been paying since entering the profession in 1979. It is money I have already earned - how can it be fair to take it away? If I had known the goal posts would be moved, I may have made different choices years ago, when there was still time.

I understand that people who have not paid into a public sector pension may feel aggrieved that they will not get similar benefits. However, they had the same opportunities as me - if teachers' pensions look so good, why did they not also enter the profession? I think we can guess why not. They know it is no feather bed, and teachers need many skills. And when the going has been tough in teaching, and salaries generally below what graduates might have earned in other fields, people always said, "Never mind, you'll get a good pension......"

Which brings me to the holidays: they are generous, but were originally provided for the benefit of children, rather than for teachers. Would you like your child in school for 46 weeks or more per year? In any case, they make up a little for the relentless working days, 14 hours or more is par for the course. Those lessons don't just prepare themselves, you know. And teachers' workloads have increased year on year throughout my career (but not their pay, of course) - this is all completely invisible to the general public as I can tell from many of the replies to this thread. I rarely leave the building before 6 o'clock these days, having been there since 8 and taking a 5 minute lunch break and tea break. Not to mention all the absurd box-ticking and spurious educational initiatives which teachers have been coerced into funding by donating extra labour but with no extra pay. If teachers were paid by the hour for all the box-ticking which has had to be done over the last 20 years, the Government would deem it unnecessary, PDQ.

Having said all this, I personally don't agree with a strike. I think it will achieve little, alienate many, and put money back into the hands of the LEAs. But it is essential to make some sort of protest, even for a workforce as docile and harrassed as the average primary teacher.

 

Thank you, Madahlia. I enjoy reading all your posts and I'm certain you are a damn good teacher! However, my husband gets in for work shortly after seven each morning and works a very long day with no break to speak of. He's still pounding away on the laptop and taking calls through most evenings and often weekends as well. Not that he's complaining - that is just life in a small firm these days and, no, he wouldn't want to be a teacher! However, he worries about every decision he makes because he knows it's not just his livelihood which is on the line. No orders = no work for the dozen or so people in his team. I'm not sure this sort of stress is fully understood by public sector workers, even though the money to pay their wages comes largely from the business sector.

 

I've taken out five different personal pensions since the early 80s, being in a job where no employers have thought pensions for the workers was necessary.
On every occasion sucsessive governments have changed the rules, meaning I have to freeze my pension and take out a new one.

I'm now in the situation that I am paying no personal pension and all the ones I have paid into over the years are being eaten up by charges each year.

So I'm sorry, but I cant have any sympathy for the public sector workers.

They have had it too good for too long at my expense.

And any that thought that a promised pension was likely to actually happen must be living in cuckoo land, or the 1950s.
I'm now stuffing money under the matress, as intrest rates are so low I cant even invest a few quid.:(

 

Yes, the only certainty now is that one way or another you will be stuffed.

 

Are you SURE about that?

Isn't it a case of (for example) you pay 50p into the pot,the government pays 50p (or similar figure) so there is now £1.00 in the pot, but what has happened is you have been paying in your 50p but the government not only stopped paying their 50p, but took all their 50p's out?

Please correct me if I am wrong (obviously the figures are made up)