Teachers to begin industrial action within three weeks
Monday 24th May 2010, 2:59PM BST.
Other workers joined teachers on a protest march last month
TEACHERS will launch industrial action – including a one-day strike – within three weeks.
Jersey’s biggest teaching union, the NASUWT, has announced that its members will start an indefinite period of industrial action on 11 June. They will hold their first strike day on 17 June.
Teachers will begin the action by refusing to carry out lunchtime and morning break supervision – but have vowed that the action will escalate unless the dispute is resolved.
They have also warned that teachers could be in an all-out strike during the next school year from September.
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thanks teachers – at least when i take my children out of school during term time i will no longer feel guilty and have to make up an excuse
in fact why not strike on fri as well so we can go away for a long weekend?
If its alright for the teachers to take time off during term time then its alright for the kids!
This is erosive for the respect of parents for the teachers and schools – why can’t someone arrange a sensible resolution?
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Well done all teachers, its about time some group had the guts to tackle this pathetic bunch of politicians we have in at the moment. Yes i understand many people will be inconvenienced, but don’t those who will moan realise that most teachers are inconvenienced each day by working extra hours they are not contracted to do. At least teachers turn up for work and carry out their tasks to the end of each day whilst a great many of our so called elected politicians turn up for the work we pay them for and clock off within an hour to go to their second jobs. Shameful of them.
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Disgusting behaviour! Sack the lot of striking teachers! There are plenty others more than suitable to take their places. They just want MORE holidays!
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Sack the lot of them! Anyone who wants to go on strike in these times over pay doesn’t live in the real world.
1000+ people unemployed and counting. The sheer gall of these people is unbelieveable..
I will be sending the childminder bills to my son’s school to be reimbursed.
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Mr Sensible #2: Clearly your name doesn’t represent what you are. Poor teachers having to work extra hours. Get used to the real world, everyone else does. No wonder their is no public support behind teachers when they behave so utterly selfish, and disgusting behaviour. Teachers think they are a holier than thou lot, when in fact they get paid to do a job. It IS NOT a vocation, as many like to think they are Mother Theresa. Teachers get paid a good salary, and get conditions most workers woudl die for, but no not to them, they want MORE! Selfish, and explains having such an attitude is why respect for them by students is ankel deep at best!
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Hold on! This is an absolute disgrace! Teachers should consider themselves lucky to not get a pay cut like most other people over the last few years!
I’ll tell you what, why doesn’t everyone work with go on strike, we’ll stamp our feet until we get paid more for the extra few hours we put in every week and don’t get paid for!
Seriously, what is the world coming too!!!
Who loses out, yes…the children.
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@ No. 1 peeved.
Did you even read the article? It said that the teachers will stop covering lunchtime and morning breaks, so your argument only really works if you were planning on going on holiday just for your lunch hour…
Rev
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Teachers here get paid a damn sight more than in the uk with smaller class sizes. They should be grateful for having jobs.
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@3 Who are these ‘suitable people’ to take over our jobs if you sacked us all. To teach you need to have a teaching qualification (normally at least 4 years at university)! It is difficult enough to find people to fill the posts of people leaving the profession here to go back to the UK or moving elsewhere.
Not all teachers have voted to strike, do not put all of us under the same umbrella when talking about the forthcoming action.
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A question for the teachers – why do you feel that you exist in isolation and that the current economic climate does not apply to you. You have been offered 2 % for this year and next whilst many of us have had nothing or worse have had pay cuts or lost jobs.
Can you not see the overwhelming majority are not supportive of your action, covering lunch breaks and morning breaks is hardly onerous. Try having half your department made redundant and having to maintain the same level of service without a pay rise last year or this.
I am honestly not trying to be fascitious, I am genuinely trying to understand your thought process at a time when so many are enduring hardship.
Is there something abolut working for the state that makes you feel cocooned and impervious to outside influences?
I do hope that no action is taken and that the inevitable suffering to be endured by families and children is avoided.
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Nice to see an instant enfilade of ignorant and vitriolic tripe from the usual quarters. These boards just wouldn’t be the same without it. Real Truthseeker and your kin…I saulte you.
On a more serious adult note; good luck to all teachers with their upcoming attempts to force the States of Jersey into a reappraisal of their dire mishandling of the situation. Hopefully this can be resolved before strike action begins but judging from the reports I am hearing the States are digging their heels in just as hard…
Mick
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@S
btw class sizes over here are roughly the same as the UK, and with Jersey being an extremely expensive place to live one would expect some corresponding increase in basic teacher wages…or there would simply be no teachers able to afford working/living here.
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Instead of vitriolic abuse here,it is the principles that teachers are striking for.It is an absolute disgrace that the States Employment Board are so arrogant that they cannot negotiate properly and Le Sueur and Ozouf need to be taught a lesson for their large egos.I support teachers fully.
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The problem as I see it is that the teachers themselves do not know what they are fighting for!!
Is it the poor work conditions?
The extra responsibilities (i.e. monitoring lunch breaks)?
…..or is it REALLY about the pay (for which Jersey teachers are already well paid)?
Nice picture accompanying this article though….I think the placard says it all!!
If it is, as we all suspect, mostly for the pay then you all live in cloud cuckoo land……..maybe you have been too busy marking your students homework to notice what has been happening in the world for the last 2 years…..people are losing their jobs left, right & centre and very few (if any) are getting any sort of pay rise.
Why do you think teachers should be able to burden the already struggling taxpayer any further with their ridiculous and selfish pay demands?
Be grateful for what you have and thank your lucky stars that your profession has considerably higher job security than most others……which in this economic climate is a massive bonus!
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(1) Peeved – the sensible resolution needs to be led by the Chief Minister and his friends who have up until last week refused to even sit and discuss the situation re conditions of service with the teaching representatives. Teaching reps have attempted talks but to no avail.
(2) Mr Sensible – I agree. We are in difficult times at the moment, but prices are ever increasing, and wages are not. Surely, someone has to stand up to the States re this? I don’t know if I am alone, but the boat out in the morning is all I will be able to afford soon (and that isn’t cheap either!).
(3) Real Truthseeker – teachers do not want more holidays. In fact if you asked many of them they would probably prefer to have holidays at a time of their choice, and less of them, where if they are lucky enough to be able to afford a holiday, it would be at a cheaper rate. Where are the “most suitable”? Nobody is queuing up to work in Jersey anymore…….teaching vacancies are not being filled which is leading to more work being created for existing staff who are increasingly being asked to teach subjects which are not their specialism.
(4) Disgusted – I look forward to the bill for your childminder being sent into the appropriate school. You may find that the recent cuts in education mean that they are unable to pay. Maybe Mr Le Sueur might find some loose change in his pocket to cover the cost?
(5) Real Truthseeker – Teachers do work extra hours……..are you sure everyone else does? It is 820, i have just switched the laptop on and I will be working until around midnight – what are you doing? Mother Theresa I am not…..committed I am, and would you not be grateful if I was the person teaching your child? This is not about money, I am earning a fair wage…..but why is it that I don’t have any money left at the end of the month? I was not stranded abroad due to the fog as I struggled to afford to afford the petrol to get as far as St Ouen!
(6) Jambo – What a shame you feel that way……..but I know how it looks from the outside. Please be reassured the children will not suffer.
(7) Rev – It is always the same……people only read what they want to read.
(8) S –I have worked as a teacher in the UK so can tell you that only teachers that opted to do duties did so (and in return had a free lunch in the canteen as payment), meetings after school were once a week (at present most secondary schools have two).
(9) A teacher! – I feel saddened by so many of the posts on here. I voted to strike and do not think that it is a bad thing, but respect you if you chose not to.
(10) Mulvie – I too hope that strike action does not take place and hope that negotiations for conditions of service are successful………..I really do not think that this is about the money (see above, no 5).
(11) Mick –
(12) Cookiecrumble – thank you.
It is easy to criticise………..but not so easy to empathise. No doubt I will get slated on here…..Spend any time in a school anywhere on the island and you will see dedicated staff who are working endless hours at work (well after the hours that the students leave) and in their own time. Why not ask the students who are old enough to understand and have an opinion what they think? You may be surprised with their answers.
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Cookie Crumble… hilarious… principles!! Stirking Teachers don’t have any – they are putting students second to line their own pockets. They are a disgrace! Liek striking ig going to have any impact on Le Suer or Ozouf! Stupid comment!
Just because they have an ego, teachers want to go on strike!!! That is ridiculous- typical response from pathetic teachers intent on ensuring peoples respect ever diminishes. No-one stupports this outside militant unions.
I hope you all striking teachers get the boot! I will offer my support to any teacher wishing to break the barrier in go to work on the day.
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What a disgrace, parents are moaned out when taking their children out of school during school term, yet they are going to strike and now parents will have to take time off work. They should be thinking of the children and their education.
I work all hours and dont get paid any extra and didnt get a pay rise this year, but I cant go on strike. Get yourselves sorted and do your job like the rest of us.
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Don’t have time to analyse who has the consensus but the main argument from those against appears to be ‘we are in a recession so don’t be greedy’. Those for other than teachers’ main argument appear to be one of ‘standing up to the States’. I am a teacher and I am not au fait with the Political situation in Jersey thus far. What I can tell you is that I have experience in working in the UK and overseas and I am worse off here. There are plenty of economic arguments for paying teachers more – one simple one is that during a recession teachers are part of the supply side that has to work harder to aid recovery; that is to say the work load actually increases. During the growth periods teachers do not reap the rewards like the private sector. My advice is this support the teachers, this will aid economic recovery. Force the teachers to back down and you will left with a substandard education system.
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Why can’t they wait till the end of July to walk out ? They could then stay out on strike for 5 weeks for all I care
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Teachers to strike in 3 weeks. Yeah – lets get the half term holiday out of the way first.
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Mick re comment 12 – possibly the most absurd comment ever to have been made on thisisjersey!
Poor poor teachers unable to survive on such little wages…
So tell me, how do people working in retail and small business survive on half their wages??
Secondly, several of my friends are teachers and have worked in the UK, which they described as horrific, hard work and but good experience. Mainly because since they moved back here, pupils are much better behaved, amenities etc are 100 times better and they say they have a pretty decent job which is far much easier than anything they ever did in the UK.
Oh…not forgetting how much less Jersey taxes them…
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Newbie, everyone has to work harder in a recession, increased workload, and no pay increases. The finance sector has had pay freezes for some time now. Terachers are not alone in this, and this utter selfish action is a perfect example why teachers have lost respect in society. A considerabel number (ie: those choosing to strike) entered the profession simply because of the holidays and benefits, now you want more? Digusting behaviour from a group not worthy of respect in society! No-one supports this behaviour. Part of the supply side?!?!? Everyone is a part of the supply side – providing output for the economy. Let me tell you one thing, whilst you are on holidays and on strike you are NOT a part of the economy.
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@Jambo
Agreed; probably an overstatement on my part there.
The most absurd comment EVER posted on thisisjersey? I very much doubt that.
Mick
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Don’t need to make a profit,12 weeks paid holiday,secure,sick pay….and you want to strike….be better to count your blessings I reckon….
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Truthseeker – your argument is littered with sweeping generalisations; as if you can speak for everyone. Fortunately, not everyone sees it the way you do. It is about choices, teachers feel that they are not receiving a fair deal. The States feel they are, some members of the public support the teachers some do not. The Truth Mr Seeker will indeed come out in the wash and market forces will in the end decide. However, good teachers are in huge demand and parents that can afford to send their children to good schools will not blink at paying £15,000 plus per year; so for some money is not an issue. Mr Seeker of the Truth – good teachers will not stay under the current conditions and will continue to struggle to attract essentially skilled teachers. Not everyone has the same commitment during a recession, in fact, the simple term recession shows that there is a lack of demand and therefore output. What is a fact that some policies support spending during a recession and some support cuts and some a mixture. Teachers are under paid in Jersey and do not receive the same working conditions as comparable developed economies that’s why there is a shortage of competent teachers on the Island.
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Oh my, I agree with Truthseeker!!!! I have woken in a parallel universe…
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#24 Newbie: “It is about choices, teachers feel that they are not receiving a fair deal.”
You’re absolutely right, it is about choices and if teachers feel the deal is unfair, they can choose to do something else. Or maybe not, if there’s anything in the old saying: if you can’t do it…
“Teachers are under paid in Jersey”
Give me a break! Teachers get paid very well in Jersey, starting on over £35k. This is a good wage for anyone in the real world and better than most starting salaries.
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Teachers standing up for their principles? Showing guts? You do know that their pay for their day’s strike is being funded by the Union? ie a UK Union is paying to have thousands of parents in Jersey disrupted for the day. Teachers get yet another day off with no personal sacrifice. Go figure.
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‘You do know that their pay for their day’s strike is being funded by the Union? ie a UK Union is paying to have thousands of parents in Jersey disrupted for the day.’
The teachers pay quite high rates of union dues so they get strike pay when in dispute.
All they are getting is what they have paid for!
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Real Truthseeker – You Know Nothing
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It will be interesting to see how this affects Geoff Southern’s attempts at election….given his missus is part of the teaching buisness…I have always thought teachers have no grasp of commercial reality this latest debacle proves it… Teachers I believe you do a good enough job but you wanna try life in the private sector…without the States umbrella and see how tough real life is….there the truth can truly be found.
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@Mike
Pip is quite right; I plus all the other teachers pay approximately £100 a year (and have done for over a decade) into my union. That’s over £1000 in total.
I could take a WEEK off on strike funded by the union and still not have made back my investment.
Get your facts straight please.
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Real Truthseeker,think you need to go back to school , consider using spell checker next time you reply, what has not been considered in all the comments is why we are in a shaky financial state, well it was the greedy banking fraternity ,lending out money on a whim, we are all paying for it now,even though some banks are still making billions in profits that is why most of us have to continue with no pay rises, and inflation creeps up, and 20 means 20 takes effect, so don’t blame the teachers for standing up for themselves, someone has to do it.
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Point, some way over towards St Ouen, Pip and Mick, in the vicinity of Grouville. You’ve both missed the point by nine miles – wait for it “St Ouen is 9.2 miles from Grouville so get your facts straight”.
Union dues are not a downpayment for a day on the beach. They really aren’t. Nor are they an insurance policy lest UK activists invade our shores. The point, Pick n Mix, is that the teachers have voted to have a day off at no marginal cost to themselves. Which is the way it is – but please, let’s not talk about teachers being “principled” or having “guts” – they’re just having another day off. If they were principled, if they believed so strongly in their case, if they had real guts, they would strike without pay.
Yeah, right.
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Mr Sensible
Please don’t start that debate again…..the consumer is as much at fault at the lender. No one forced them to borrow money they could not pay back!
Besides if house prices weren’t so ridiculously over-inflated then mortgages wouldn’t have been so high and vulnerable to default……I blame the greedy estate agents and property market
Mick…..strange comment to say your £100 payment to the union was an “investment”??
You make it sound like the strike was called so the union could some way justify taking this money off you members.
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@BS Deluxe
In the same way that insurance is an investment. Paying submissions to a union is like taking out insurance on your own professional rights. So an investment of sorts, yes.
How many ways are there to twist someone’s words…you will try ANYTHING to offend, it seems.
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Mick
Insurance is generally for “protection” not investment!!
You seem very easily offended……truth hurts sometimes though I’m afraid.
I bet you don’t teach your kids that little nugget of wisdom hey?
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mick – now come on, don’t keep making a sitting duck of yourself.
what union demands ‘submissions’? sounds like a scary outfit to me.
ps can i have your job? ‘£1000 won’t cover me for a week on strike’ – by implication it’s not far off – not a bad wage
and no, insurance is not an investment. investment should create wealth/growth, but insurance is a cost incurred to defray costs arising from loss/damages
and what on earth are professional rights? there’s such a thing as human rights, but i think you mean ‘terms and conditions’ to which all employed persons are subject to.
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In some ways a union acts in a similar way to other professional bodies.
Get in a dispute with a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, etc and the respective professional body that they pay a membership fee to will be around with the legal team to look after the member’s interest.
But I guess that in your eyes that is OK while a union paying strike pay to a member is a crime against your ideal right wing society
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Mick what planet are you on? The fee’s paid to Unions isn’t an investment, it is to pay salaries to Union officials who have one objective in life, to create problems for the tax paying parents, who deserve a service – who are now paying extra money, or forgoing holidays to mind their children, while teachers strike.
Teachers get to enjoy their holidays on trips away – the avergae parent in Jersey has to take annual leave to mind their kids.
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Whose strike is least justified – BA Cabin Crew or Jersey Teachers? Tough one.
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Okay okay okay so I am besieged from all sides by all manner of people who perceive the teachers’ protest against the States’ planned cuts to the education system as a simple case of greedy folks wanting a day off at the beach.
If that’s really how you all truly perceive the situation then fine, that’s your choice. Keep voting for the same old same old and watch as your island disintegrates around you.
Keep attacking me, teachers in general, professional unions, whoever you want…keep on slagging away in order that you all gain some sense of righteous self-worth. Enjoy the feeling of really tearing into a section of the community whose sole professional aim is the betterment, support and care of children.
Attack away! Throw eggs why don’t you!? Why not go the whole hog and burn some effigies of teachers in the Royal Square? And when you’re done stamping out the flames, why not blow a kiss in the direction of the States chambers and go back to your righteous lives.
You are ALL right. Unions exist SOLELY to suck the blood from society – teachers are all stupid, greedy, evil morons who deserve to be ground into the floor and made to beg for crumbs – then flogged.
Why not come join us on the strike day on 17th June; all the teachers are having a massive BBQ down at Le Braye slip; we’ll moor up our cruisers in the bay and have a ball. My how we’ll laugh at how we managed to sneak ourselves a day off…and you thought it was because we all cared about the education system of Jersey…lol…we just wanted to get a sun tan, you hear? A SUNTAN!
I give in. You all win. You’re all… so… RIGHT!!
ttfn
Mick
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Whislt you might be trying to sugar coat your sarcasm Mick – there is a great deal of truth in what you say.
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Mick
Blimey….that’s some hissy fit
“Enjoy the feeling of really tearing into a section of the community whose sole professional aim is the betterment, support and care of children”……and holding us all to ransom for an above inflation pay rise during a time of extreme recession.
On another day you may have had the full support of everyone towards your plight, but the timing of the teacher (and BA’s) strikes and the varying, and often contradictory, arguments being made are absolutely terrible.
It might be better to save your woes until the economy improves and employers are hiring instead of firing again.
Also, be thankful you have a job considering there may be compulsory public sector redundancies in the near future according to today’s headlines.
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Good on you Mick, at last, someone who is prepared to admit defeat. Now if Gordon Brown had had you by his side, he may have shown the same honesty when he had lost the argument. See you at La Braye – 2 o’clock start, yes?
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Mick,
Get another job. You are too sarcastic to be a good teacher.
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Roger – it is selfishness on behalf of the teachers to conduct themselves in this manner in the current climate. I hope it is the teachers who get the bullet and that this behaviour does not get rewarded. Haven’t you been reading the posts above Roger.
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Roger, if your income dropped, would you carry on spending the same as, even more than,before? How much simpler can the point be made?
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RealTruthseeker…
What current climate? £400,000 to tart up Cheapside? One million pounds handed over to finance to ‘stengthen their position’? £287,000 paid per year to the head of WEB?
You’re having a laugh…
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Teachers, overpaid and underachieving. They have let down many of our young. Why wont they publish GCSE results for the state schools? Its because they are terrible. Some of the most deprived areas in the UK have the same standards as ours.
Oh and dont mention the pension they get. They wont talk about that.
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