Teachers are ready to strike
Tuesday 1st December 2009, 3:00PM GMT.
A strike by teachers could be as soon as next month
MEMBERS of the Island’s biggest teaching union have voted in favour of strike action – increasing fears of a mass walk-out early in the New Year.
Local leaders of the National Association of Schoolmasters and the Union of Women Teachers, which has 500 members, say that members are prepared to take tough action in their dispute over the public sector pay freeze. Representative Pip Ward said that there was now overwhelming support for strike action by the vast majority of union members.
Yesterday, the Jersey branch of National Union of Teachers announced that its members had backed strike action. NUT local spokesman Anne Southern said that the walk-out could be as early as the end of January.
Miss Ward said that the Jersey branch of the NASUWT was still in the process of
negotiating with the States, adding that members were now prepared to strike if mediation talks failed. She said that the decision by the States Employment Board to not offer any pay increase was ‘an example of the contempt its members seemed to have for public sector employees’.
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How irresponsible. Aren’t we supposed to teach our children correctly. And what would this show them?
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As always, public sector employees do not seem to appreciate the larger economic picture.
TIMES ARE HARD. They still have a job which they should be grateful for. Private sector employees are generally facing a second year of pay freezes with increasing worries over job security. If they don’t like it then vote with your feet and leave teaching! There will always be other jobs available for such bright people who obviously deserve more!
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I support industrial action by the Island’s teachers – although not with regard to their pay claim. While that may be justified, this is not the time to present it.
However, the proposed strike should be used to draw attention to their pupils’ lawlessness and a lack of support from their parents, it is becoming nigh impossible.
I most certainly do not advocate a return to corporal punishment, but there must be some sanctions against unruly students.
This would protect the interests of those children who do want to learn.
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This actually makes me really angry. They are now behaving like children themselves and throwing a tantrum because they can’t get what they want.
Guess what teachers, we all would love a payrise but noone in the private sector is getting one (those of us who still have jobs) so kindly explain to me why it is that you think you’re better than everyone else in the population and why we should all stump up more tax money which we can ill afford to pay you?!
I’m sorry that you’ve lost your collective bargaining rights, but noone in the real world has these either and when there is no money in the pot, there is no money in the pot! Not a lot to bargain over!
Once again the Southerns of this world have shown that they don’t care two hoots about the vast majority of us who work hard and pay our taxes so long as their unionised friends get their whiskers in the cream!
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Let them walk.They may learn something from having unpaid time off rather than months of paid holidays
each year. What a terrible example to the children.
With thirty odd per cent of primary school children leaving as illiterates thirty odd per cent of the teachers cannot be doing their job properly anyway. Just compare the young soldiers putting their lives on the line for our freedom with these self centered cushy billeted teachers, I would lock them out for a few months. Their behavior is disgraceful.
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The economic climate is grim and generally pay rises do not exist in the marketplace. I am sure there would be many would gladly swap for the pay on offer and 12 weeks+ holiday a year.
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Where do these people think the money is going to come from??? No one is getting pay rises in the private sector, why should the public sector be any different??? IF THERE IS NO MONEY, THERE IS NO MONEY. Or teachers get a payrise but 50 of them lose their jobs. Thats what we have been told where I work
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The union representatives have come out with phrases like overwhelming support, but could not give figures for the vote(they claimed not to know) I would like to know how many teachers are members of the union, how may voted, and what was the majority in favour of the resolution.
Maybe the states should agree a cost of living adjustment to teacher’s salaries. The index which is used as a basisfor pay increases currently indicates that a DECREASE in salaries of 0.6% would be in order.
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“Months of paid holidays” according to Piston Broke (comment 5)My daughter and her husband are both teachers (in England)and I am constantly baffled by the long hours they spend at school on top of their “normal” hours.There seems to be a never ending amount of courses to attend and administration to be completed.I won’t even go in to the behaviour of both children and parents which they have to put up with and try to control.Much of their “holidays” are also spent in school and they have no choice but to take a holiday out of term time which is restricting and expensive as they are certainly not allowed to take time off during term (yet parents wish to take their children out to save money!)They are good teachers and I am proud of them both but quite honestly I wish now that they had chosen different professions as it is not an easy job if you are determined to do it well.
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Udupi
Think first before you advocate industrial action. Think, will it be the correct target who will suffer.
What kind of student do you think will be affected by a teacher strike ?
The unruly troublemakers wont give a damm, they will probably be extremely happy with a few days off to go drinking and troublemaking around town.
Their parents don’t give a damm either, and wont care where they are so long as they are not bothering them.
The ones who will suffer are the majority of students who are trying hard to make the most of their education.
Again its the good parents who will suffer having to take time off work to look after their kids.
You say
“I most certainly do not advocate a return to corporal punishment, but there must be some sanctions against unruly students”
Other than a strike that will only affect the wrong target, how about some sensible suggestions.
Everyone is aware of the problem anyway, what extra “draw attention” do you think a teachers strike would achieve ?
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this is confusing why should they get a pay raise and act like little children about if they want it. Get a diffent job if you want to have more money. Also there not very good rolemodels…..
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Just let them walk, they haven’t complain until now and if they want a pay rise why don’t they just get a different job that pays more.
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Lucky kids. We would have been ecstatic had our teachers all walked out of school.
I always found it puzzling how 3 or 4 years at University had taught teachers to tell us to “read the next chapter and take notes”. I can’t believe my parents actually paid for that “education”.
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Julie, well said. I can only guess that the people who think otherwise don’t have a close relationship with any teachers OR the ones that they do know are not very good! My sister works longer hours than your average office worker, she can’t just leave school behind at the end of the day, and most of her holidays are taken up with school affairs (essentially parenting kids whose parents just can’t be bothered) so she probably only actually gets 4 weeks holiday (like most workers).
Also, on an island (or in a small, close community like where my sister works) you are ALWAYS a teacher. More people know you than know their Police Officers or Medical Professionals and, as such, you are always ‘on duty’. I mean this in the sense that you always have to be wary of what you’re saying, doing etc. My friend teaches over here and she rarely goes into town because it is more stressful for her than it is relaxing, she bumps into so many students that she feels she might as well be at work! It’s also very hard to just enjoy a night out, especially when you teach teenagers and they make up rumours any time they see you with a member of the opposite sex.
I’m not sure when taking industrial action became ‘childish’. It is a right that many people have and it is often one that they need, especially when they’re employer is a Government! I agree it is a right that should be used carefully but I believe that right should exist.
And I always love the ‘get a different job’ comments, like it’s THAT easy in the real world. Changing jobs too often can be detrimental on your CV.
It would be better, however, if the strike was to force the government to do something about lawless children and their parents… that is a cause that teachers really need support on and the States continue to leave them high and dry.
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Are they not getting paid enough over here considering how much the UK are getting paid. They did very well with their studies in uni which is great and rightly deserve a good pay but this is not a great example for the children they teach.
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Heh Clare – are you not on the breadline then?? I’m alright Jack!! good for you – some of us are or are close to it. And perhaps this is one lesson our children will need to learn – not to be bullied or oppressed or accept everything they are told!
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Having read all the rest of the comments – dear me private sector moaning about the public sector – who has jobs and who does not – well I am one of them who has lost my job and I am looking for one – but I can assure you I want a decent days pay for what I do. I have always worked hard and have been loyal to the firm but I have lost my job. Why should the private sector accept a pay freeze too – we all all accepting it and I am sorry but I don’t like being taken advantage of and it seems that we all are.
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So teachers feel the need to strike. Teachers tell us that they do not get long holidays as they are working for all that time they tell us how dedicated they are. SO TEACHERS GO ON STRIKE DURING THE HOLIDAYS.
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There is currently a discusion on freedom of information by our government. The reason l raise this matter is because we as a society could force our government via that freedom of information to publish online states spending as they do across America. http://www.fiscalaccountability.org.This evidence may be used to see where our money is spent and of course deliberate priority.
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I don’t doubt that the teachers deserve a pay rise, just like the rest of us but if they get one then every states worker will be striking for one. Times are tough for everyone, a friend of mine is a nurse in the uk, she works 12 hour shifts and has recently had to accept less pay, that’s the reality. It’s not just the nurses either, many UK workers have taken pay cuts.
It’ll pass and things will improve but you have to take an overview of the current situation. Sit tight and when it picks up submit your pay claim.
I just don’t understand why states workers think that they exist in isolation when the rest of us know perfectly well that we won’t be getting a rise. Is is due to the I’ve always had a pay rise so I want one now mentality?
Personally I haven’t asked for a rise and I haven’t been told I’m not getting one, pay reveiw time has passed and it’s assumed that we all know the score. Sorry teachers you do a difficult job but you chose it, you’re in the same boat as the rest of us.
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I’m getting a bit confused over how this teaching thing works. I happen to know at one primary school the teachers are allocated so many hours to teach the chilldren and additional paid hours to attend meetings and out of hours events. Nothing is done for free. If an event takes place that doesn’t have any hours allocated to it such as a Summer fair then the head teacher can not insist that the teachers stay to help, and consequently the majority do not. This particular school has a thriving PTA but it is definately more of a PtA.
I work in Finance and have not had a pay rise for the last two years. I think that the teachers ought to poke their nose out of their class rooms and see what is happening in the real world at the moment.
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#18 “SO TEACHERS GO ON STRIKE DURING THE HOLIDAYS. ” Maybe they should, just to prove how much they actually do. If they went on strike in the summer it would still affect your child’s education.
Still, this kind of attitude probably typifies people’s attitude towards teachers these days and this may explain why people are raising total brats that cause havoc in schools, that the teachers get to deal with!
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The reality is people need to get cost of living each year to enable them to live.
Unfortunately “the rest of us” haven’t got the bottle to stand up for our rights.
As per this mess it isn’t the ordinary workers fault so why should they be penalised for others blunders?
As far as I am concernd this is now a perfect time for the more unscruplous bosses out there to milk the system to their own ends.
We are entering a winter of discontent and I expect other states departments to consider strike action as well if their bargaining rights are denied.
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#21 It’s just possible that the teachers are the ones living in the real world. They’re the ones that are REALLY seeing what today’s youth are like. The rest of society is cushioned from it a little bit.
And frankly, the nonsense that has been put on teachers over the last decade means that they are now carrying out numerous jobs that generally get higher pay. They are now psychologists, the police (they were recently asked to watch out for signs of kids being taken home in the Summer for arranged marriages) and punch bags (bearing the brunt of brats’ anger at life).
If teachers were JUST being asked to teach then I wouldn’t believe they were owed a pay rise, but their job has now gone FAR beyond just teaching. Teachers are now being asked to pick up the slack for parents, the police, psychological services and all sorts of other professions. It’s pathetic and I think it’s time they put their foot down on this very issue and said “NO”.
There is no way that anyone who has just one job that they do day in day out can understand the changes that have arisen in teaching since the days when they were students. It’s gone beyond a joke now and it’s putting teachers under immense pressure.
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@ Leah Holmes #22
“…Still, this kind of attitude probably typifies people’s attitude towards teachers…”
I think the idea that teachers strike during the holidays, thus proving that they’re actually working during this period as is so often claimed, is a good idea. Or is the idea of the removal of labour not just to prove the work is required, but to cause maximum inconvenience to all?
As a teacher Leah, how much difference would it make if you didn’t work outside of your contracted hours?
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Realist & Adrian are right.
When you give a firm your loyalty over many years, (and the boss says the staff make the business ). Oh and by the way, we need to cut costs so some of you have to go…..geee thanks !
Then you have the Social Security wanting their pound of flesh…..must pay your social security , er circa £450 a month and no income. That’s ok ,you can sell your house , we don’t care about you or your family circumstances.
So good on you teachers, for having the bottle to show the States your not spineless like the rest of us……
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No I’d strike in term time. You can’t expect people to go on strike in their holidays can you?
The kids love being off school and it might make the parents a bit more respectful of what the teachers do for them and their darlings.
I like peoples’ use of “the word real world” all the time. Just because their real world isn’t up to much why try and drag others down to their level? Why not be happy for them instead?
I would also challenge any critics of teachers to do a few weeks as a teacher and see how they liked it. I bet they would soon be scuttling back to their jobs. By the way I am not a teacher. Kids are not an easy option. There is no way I would be a teacher today with all the extra hassle involved.
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Who’s or what’s next? If the States can remove the democratic right to free collective bargaining what will they do next? Here’s the pattern, thousands petition against GST – ignored. Hundreds claims child abuse – ignored. When fellow workers in the private sector were being awarded large bonuses, free private health care, expenses paid trips to Dubai, did teachers complain? When teachers were awarded 3% and average pay increases were double that in finance – still silence. Teachers don’t teach for money, teachers won’t fight over money, but they will fight over their democratic rights.
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#25 I’m not a teacher, I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole because of the very poor level of parenting around these days!
The difference with striking during term time is that it causes an immediate problem for parents (what to do with their kids while they’re at work) where striking during summer time will only slightly affect the level of teaching come the following school year. Most parents won’t even notice or bother if THAT is affected, they’ll only care about what gets in the way of their own day to day life!
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Bring it on teachers!!….and the rest of the public sector. After all, there are those on the States payroll / allowances whom have quietly accepted their 2009 increases.,…and yes, I was one of you, some years ago now, who moved on realising that no matter how vocational you are, there is more to life than working every hour God sends.(and rarely appreciated.) Still…I’m in another public sector role now …able to retire and take that pension. In fact I’m now working for a third of my salary because I’d get two third on retirement anyway!….all about dedication and believing in what you do. …Teachers , you have done this for far too long to get snubbed by a 0% pay rise….stand your ground!
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Leah Holmes #24
“…There is no way that anyone who has just one job that they do day in day out can understand the changes that have arisen in teaching since the days when they were students…”
Leah Holmes #29
“…I’m not a teacher…”
Seems to me you admit that you don’t believe you’re qualified to make many of the arguments you make??
Leah, you point out, unnecessarily, the difference between striking during term-time and holidays without answering my question: is the point of striking to prove your worth, or cause inconvenience to the highest number of people(whether innocent or ‘guilty’)?
I could support the first, but I find the second to be unprofessional and bullying.
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I think the lower paid teachers should get a pay rise and that the money for this should be found by cutting the pay of the higher paid teachers and the civil servants at the education department. They have feathered their nest for too long ..the system is unfair.
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J Lamborrari has a very valid point here, as soon as the short days and loads of holidays are mentioned, teachers are immediately on the defensive saying how much of their free time they HAVE to give up for extra curricular duties.
Why not a “work to rule”.(refuse to do anything outside of agreed contracted hours)
The only people to suffer would be the employers who would then have to make different arrangements to make sure the pupils were being educated by a correctly organised workforce and not by the charity of their employees.
They would then have to employ more teachers to teach the same amount or drastically reduce the curriculum, do away with state paid teaching of the subjects not necessary to live such as sport, music, foreign languages. etc.
Then again they may work to rule and no one notices the difference.
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#31 Not so, I have teacher friends and teachers in my family so I see exactly how much hard work they do outwith the hours you seem to think they work. THAT (and bad parenting) are the very reasons I will not even consider school teaching.
Striking during term-time would prove their worth MORE than striking during the holidays, simply because parents care so little these days about their kids’ education! I don’t believe anyone strikes just to cause inconvenience, but unfortunately we live in an extremely selfish world where people will only sit up and take notice when they ARE inconvenienced.
Maybe if the public were less selfish (and that includes teachers), were far more respectful for the work teachers do, and if Governments actually listened there would be no need to strike because teachers would be properly valued.
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The reason for going on strike is the removal of their bargaining rights as far as I am concerned. This is a grave concern for those who believe in freedom to negiotate their own pay and conditions. We don’t want to go back to the bad old days of dictatorial management and bosses.
As per the teachers they will obviously strike in term time as the idea is to focus the powers that be minds on the fact that they don’t want their negotiating rights taken away. Also the fact that they want to maintain their pay and conditions which is only fair is it not?
When you undervalue people you often risk industrial action. This is a case in point I believe.
I also think this will be quickly resolved as once business people get upset about their kids not being in school they will soon be on the phone to members of the CoM they know to get it sorted out.
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There is a resession going on and we’ve all had to make sacrifices.
This year I only recieved a 5% pay rise and my bonus is coming in at under £10,000. I’m also not having my company car replaced so will be driving around in last years Audi, not to mention the cut backs on my flight entitlement, gym membership and discounted hotel and resteraunt scheme.
If I have to struggle on under these conditions why can’t the teachers!
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I may have this wrong but a quick research reveals that a newly teacher in the UK can expect to earn £20,133. This rises for each of the next five years to £29,427.
In Jersey it starts at £30,712 rising to £40,819 . (In addition it appears Jersey teachers can immediately go up 2 scales if they have a ‘good’ honours degree)
Sorry if i have this wrong but it seems to me that Jersey teachers already get quite well paid compared to the UK?
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“I also think this will be quickly resolved as once business people get upset about their kids not being in school they will soon be on the phone to members of the CoM they know to get it sorted out.”
Adrian, I totally agree. Perish the thought that those and such as those would be put out!
Of course there is the chance that this will just be another day where kids are left to roam Jersey with no adult supervision causing bother for the rest of us.
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@ Leah Holmes #34
“#31 Not so, I have teacher friends and teachers in my family so I see exactly how much hard work they do outwith the hours you seem to think they work….”
But you must admit your previous statements are contradictory to each other, and now you move the goal posts!
As it happens I too have teachers friends and teachers in my family, and I know how hard they work, and the hours they put in; I therefore know they work fewer hours than I do, and while I won’t go so far as to say their work is no harder than mine, the conditions are far better and they are far, far better paid than I am.
So unlike you it is not the hard work, and obviously not the reduced hours or extra holidays either, that keeps me from the profession, but it’s simply not my vocation.
As it happens however I have found myself helping friends and family with some of their out of hour preparatory work, so I also know that had I chosen teaching the academic aspect I would have been able to undertake.
If teachers feel they are not highly enough valued, let them take their labour elsewhere, they might find that they suddenly feel a whole lot worse off in the private sector and will appreciate their old jobs(and salaries) a lot more.
As I said before, why don’t they just work to rule and not do the extra work that they use to defend their short hours and long holidays; enjoy their time off and if they find they need more income take a holiday job?
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Nice one, Rupert #36.
Just shows that you can do very nicely without even learning to spell!
Looking forward to more of your wit.
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