Instead of writing some of the posts I had planned, I feel that I must air my views about the planned strikes this week!
Before you read on, here is what you could be reading now (blame the unions – it’s their fault you’re missing out, not mine!):
* The iPhone is apparently destroying society (not my words, although I am tempted to agree!)
* An interesting view on Windows ’95 and Word 6 (remember them??)
* and even a suggestion for improving televised sport (yes, I really am going to write about sport!)
However, I am now “very disappointed” with the public sector workers who have the decided to take a day off.
In fact, my main problem is with the teachers. Not all of them, just the ones that are striking.
Why? Not only are they hitting my wallet as I have to arrange and pay for extra childcare, but they are also taking away a days education from my son. This day cannot be recovered – how many days are being lost?
I had a teacher at school who would calculate how much lost time needed to be paid back by multiplying the minutes by the number of people affected. For example, if you arrived 1 minute late and there were 30 people in the class (29 pupils plus the teacher – don’t count yourself!) then you would owe 30 minutes. 5 minutes late would be 2.5 hours and so on. I was always on time for this class!
So, one strike day multiplied by 30 pupils per class works out to be… Well, it works out as a lot of teaching days when you look at the whole country!
But more importantly, what type of lesson is being taught?
I think the title of this post sums it up quite well – if things don’t go your way then why not “throw a strop” (a phrase that seems especially suited to teachers from a bygone era).
About a week and a half before the strike, my son’s school observed an “Anti Bullying Day” as part of Anti Bullying Week where the pupils were encouraged to “Stop, think and do the right thing“. Maybe we should encourage them to “Stop, think and practise what you teach“.
After all, teachers are supposed to be pillars of our community helping to shape the minds of the next generation – workers and leaders alike.
The General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) published revised guidelines two years ago setting out expectations of teachers both inside and outside of the classroom.
They say:
Case law supports the view that individuals have a responsibility to uphold the reputation of their profession, and that their individual interests do not override the greater public interest in maintaining that reputation.
Is this the case here? I really don’t think it is. The interests of this group of individuals is not in the greater public interest.
It’s more like a case of them ganging up and trying to get their own way. And it looks like the gang is recruiting.
Join the NUT now and pay nothing until next year. Not only that, bring a friend and you could win an all-inclusive weekend break! The only catch is that they need to join by 30th November.
Now, why does that date ring a bell?
My own cynicism aside, I do understand why there is a protest. But the fact still remains that the number of “senior” members of our society is growing and will continue to do so the existing pension arrangements will not suffice.
But it’s not all about the amount of pension being paid (in and out), it’s also about the age of retirement.
I am sure that there are very few sexagenarians that would want to be in charge of a class of young children (for evidence, just have a look at your parents faces next time you ask them to babysit!), but who said that a teacher has to be full time in the class room in their final years?
There are plenty of additional roles that could be carried out using all of those years of experience.
This could be providing cover in schools as a supply teacher, consulting or advisory positions or even acting as a mentor to the next generation of teachers.
Striking is a bit of a legal oddity – technically it is a breach of an employee’s contract but because the industrial action has been lawfully called there is no option to carry out disciplinary procedure against the employee.
Isn’t it about time that the right to strike was removed?
The way things stand, I think that something we should all do is to ask for our money back.
In my case, an invoice will be sent to the teacher (not the school) for the additional childcare costs.
I am sure that it won’t be paid – but if everyone else follows suit can you imagine the reaction when they see just the financial repercussions of their Xmas shopping day?
It is obvious that the money is not there, this isn’t a cunning plan to steal from the public sector pension pot. It was announced today that the retirement age is moving to 67 from the year 2026. I expect it will be 70 by the time it get there but I am planning for that – not walking out.
Putting it simply, I can see three clear options here:
- Pay more into your pension
- Work even longer
- Die earlier
You can choose one or more of these – I know my choice.
What about you?