To ask whether those who support a Junior Doctors’ strike would support a strike by teachers?

[Pottedpalm]

i would support a strike by Junior Doctors, though the idea is very frightening as a current patient in the healthcare system.
However, I wonder whether the massive support expressed for the Junior Doctors would be extended to teachers, who are also considering striking.

Yes absolutely. Agree with above comments with regards to supporting those fighting for fair pay and conditions. Also as a society, we are failing to retain the best due to being treated so poorly by the government. Our public services are falling apart.
If the government can afford to pour money down the drain all through Covid on wasted contracts and now to the richest, surely they can treat their employees with some respect.

No comparison! 6 years of paying for uni and constant placements. Weird method of applying for a job at the end of degree course and a starting salary of £28k - no wonder they want to strike.
No comparison in working conditions.
The Gov't offer to teachers is good I believe.

I have been in hospital with DS during major snow storms.

as a result of not being able to get to the hospital then staff on shifts haven’t been able to get in. That has included doctors. The staff who where in ended up working even longer shifts than normal to cover.

i have had phone calls cancelling clinic appointments because due to the snow the doctors can’t get in.

because doctors, teachers anyone else they are still humans so can’t overcome extreme weather!

Yes, absolutely. And the rail workers and postal workers and everyone else fighting for fair pay and conditions too.

So can you only strike if the conditions and pay are the absolute worst in society then?
Are we just in a race to the bottom?

I think everyone has the right to strike.

But teacher had to work from home. They didn't have a day off.

I work in a school, we have had one afternoon off for snow in my whole career! This summer children sat in classes with temperatures of 36 degrees, so we definitely didn't close for heat, although I know some schools did.

I have a young Dr in the family and working conditions are appalling , so I support their right to strike. Patients are at risk due to appalling staffing levels.

Regarding teaching, it needs to be better valued. I can see a time coming when people would rather work from home in a role rather than in a shop,school, hospital job as these roles attract so much public criticism and carry so much shit with them. So yes, I support their right to strike.

I support the right of anyone to strike.

For those saying they believe the pay offer to teachers is good - are you aware that any pay rise given to teachers will not be funded and will have to be paid for from current school budgets? The effect that will have on already stretched schools is huge.

Unions aren’t simply asking for a better offer for teachers - they are also asking for the rise to be funded by the government.

I support the right to strike. For me personally it will be train and any medical/nursing that would affect me. I don’t have children.

One thing I hope is emphasised (and I regularly see from teachers here state when discussing strikes) is that pay awards must be funded. Otherwise services will get worse. Schools and hospitals do not have funding within current budgets for pay increase.

I really dislike this kind of attitude. Teachers have got a relatively good salary in some parts of the country (less so in others) and they do get a lot more holidays than average. They also generally have long working hours during term time, have limited to no flexibility on taking holiday and they have a lot of responsibility (thinking of safeguarding particularly).
They will be better off than some and worse off than others but over past 10+ years their pay increases have been low/non existent so regardless of earnings vs other professions they are in real terms worse off.
Some schools closed in the heatwave last summer not for the staff but due to concerns about young children’s well-being.

The starting pay for a qualified teacher last year was £25,741, so yes it is nearly double the starting pay. The top of the main pay scale was £36,961 last year so not even close to over £50k.

Even the top of the upper pay scale is £41,604 so still not at £50k. I can't believe that you know 3 classroom teachers who get over £50k. They would have to be part of a leadership team to even be close to £50k and it that case it is not representative of the pay for a normal classroom teacher.

Regardless, I think anyone who wants to try and improve their working conditions and pay has a right to do so.

Yes. I absolutely do.

@Wishesa couldn't agree more, pay is crap considering the amount of learning and volume of work

I would support both and would encourage learning support staff in school and care workers to do the same.

Of course I do.

Yes. Everyone should have the right to strike

Yes full support.

The teachers on this salary will have years of experience and management responsibilities. It is not possible to earn this much otherwise. The bottom line is that experienced teachers will leave if their pay is not reflective of their skills and, despite the cash injection for entrants to the profession, we are not attracting nearly enough new teachers to fill the gaps.

Yeah I think both would have grounds.

Yes, absolutely - plus the postal workers, train drivers and any else who chooses to strike to improve their pay and conditions.

Most posts harping on about supporting anybody that wanted to go on strike for a fair wage

I'd love to see what would happen if all Police and lorry drivers went on strike

Within days the shops would have empty shelves and the Purge would become real

Yep

Personally I think the teacher unions are terrible, there are too many and they don't seem to be able to unite under common cause. They are all talk and little action, although I recognize that reps in school have a very stressful time of it and work very hard to help colleagues.

I’d 100% support both. Teachers in particular something needs to give or we’re going to end up with nobody to teach our children. I’d support massive pay increases - I’d love to see it as a job to aspire to with some competition to get into.

I would support them too. It’s not a race to the bottom.

my partner is a HGV driver, luckily he works for a unionised company and one who treat their drivers well. As such they got a pay increase in line with inflation and no erosions of conditions for that to happen. If that hadn’t been the case they would have taken strike action.

I know of other haulage companies where drivers have taken strike action to protect pay and conditions. There would never be a national strike for drivers because there is no overall pay deal or overriding company each company is their own entity.

port workers at Liverpool and Felixstowe are both taking action at the moment. Yes it causes chaos but no point in striking if it doesn’t have an impact!