Teachers potentially striking again

[CitrusSparklePinkClouds]

Teachers want a pay rise above the rate of inflation this time.

1. Yes, don't we all?!
2. Haven't kids missed enough school?

Of course they should go on strike. Tbh most professions should!
You need people to be treated well at work so they want to stay ( and do a good job).

Striking again? When was the last teacher strike?

Like you say, everyone wants a pay rise, especially right now in the midst of this financial crisis.

As a teacher, I wouldn't strike. I don't really like the idea of striking in general in any industry.

If anyone desperately needs a pay rise in schools, it's the LSAs. The expectations of the role now doesn't equate to the terrible pay.

There should be more strikes, not fewer.

Teachers don’t want a pay increase above inflation. Teachers have had pay freeze after pay freeze for the last 15. They want to close some of the gap now that the cost of living is impossible to handle.

Would you prefer your child was in school being taught by someone who resents how poorly they are regarded, or someone who is confident that the children, parents, general public and media respects their job?

We aren't altruistic martyrs, only working because we believe in the education of young people - we have bills to pay that have been getting harder and harder to keep up with for over a decade.

If you want your child to be well-educated then you need to support teachers to be properly compensated for their work.

If anyone desperately needs a pay rise in schools, it's the LSAs. The expectations of the role now doesn't equate to the terrible pay.

Thank you for saying this. As a staff member on support staff pay, I feel underpaid and undervalued much of the time.

Teachers deserve a lot more than they get.

And while you're at it, pay LSAs (and admin, and student support, and site teams...) properly too. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Why wouldn't you want the people who spend all day looking after and education your children to be well paid?

My school will definitely close. Some of my younger colleagues have withdrawn from the teacher’s pension a home (which lets be honest is one of the few perks) as they can’t afford to live on their salary. We have a huge teacher shortage which will only get worse. I’m doing ok as my husband isn’t a teacher but I will be going on strike as I’d like colleagues that want to actually teach but for them not to have to use food banks going forward.

I voted to strike, not because I want a bigger pay rise but because the pay rise we've been offered currently isn't funded by the government. It's expected to come out of schools existing budgets without the government increasing their funding sufficiently to cover it. So schools will have even less money to spend on your child's education. When you take into account the cost of these pay rises in addition to increased energy costs and the fact that a lot of schools already struggle to fund basic equipment like glue sticks it paints a bleak picture.

I'm not in a role where I can strike.
If schools close I can't work.
Parents homeschooled our children throughout the lock down.
Kids are still suffering the repercussions of that disruption.
It's a fucking tough time for everyone working in the social sector / charities / public services right now.
No. Please don't strike!

You say ‘again’….. when did teachers last strike?

Striking again? When was the last time ?

I support teachers striking 100%.

the “missed school” argument is such short term thinking, when so many children have missed out on a rounded, quality education for almost their entire school life due to staff shortages and school cuts. teachers should be very well paid.

But, if anyone strikes, there's always an impact, that's the whole point of a strike! If train drivers strike, people can't get to work, if fire fighters strike, homes burn down, if doctors strike, people die- why is it that teachers have to be the altruistic ones who fall further and further behind in pay terms?

Of course they should strike, as should many other professions. We (society) can't go on being treated like this. Teachers will end up leaving (even more than they already have) unless things massively improve. That would have a worst effect on the kids. I wish nurses would strike.

They want a fully funded above inflation pay rise. The fully funded bit is important.

School funding is in absolute crisis, teacher and support staff recruitment is in absolute crisis and the government are ignoring it. They have proposed an unfunded pay deal that is a real terms cut for teachers and that schools can’t afford.

Teachers should strike and parents should demand better than the state sector is getting.

My salary is now 19% lower than it should be if it followed inflation; not giving my payrises but just keeping in line with inflation. My school cannot pay for the proposed payrise, as it not being funded by the government, so the omly way we can afford it is to have redundancies.

@CitrusSparklePinkClouds is that how you want your children's school to be ran? It will get to the point where schools can only afford new teachers and not experienced ones and there is no way on Earth I would want that for mine.

We support our school. The teachers are great. If they want more money, they should think about us supermarket workers who worked through covid

And are you looking at industrial action too?

Agree they should be paid more & more money be put into education.

But striking now is unacceptable. If you care about kids at all, keep schools open.

OP I see you're coming from a place of concern about your livelihood and your dc.
Don't teachers get the right to have those concerns too?
Your argument isn't reasonable unless you can tell us the last time the teachers were on strike (are you somehow counting lockdowns as strikes?)

I don’t understand your point here. I mean, well done for working through Covid but - so did I? The day after we went into lockdown I began delivering my lessons online via Teams and taught every single one throughout the pandemic (except when I actually HAD Covid, hope that’s OK with you) so are you saying that despite that, you’re worth more money and I’m not?

Yes I'll be striking and frankly anyone in a union who votes to strike should walk out too, because that's how unions have strength. Lord knows I can't afford to miss a day's pay, but equally we can't afford not to. The risk to the profession and to children is great.