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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Really want to strike but really cannot afford to.

165 replies

toptramp · 28/11/2011 22:34

Anyone else in a similar position? I am a trained teacher but woprk as support staff atm so really on peanuts as it is. Plus I am a single mum who is mindful that Christmas and subsequent expense is looming.

School isn't open to students on Wednesday. If I sign in and out I get paid; if I don't sign in and out I don't. I agree with the strike but I'm skint. WWYD? Am I letting the side down if I go in? I know some staff who are turning up. OOOOOOOO moral dilemma.

OP posts:
nikon1968 · 29/11/2011 09:22

We can't afford the extra £45 per month contributions

nor can the country afford to keep you in the standards you have been come accustomed to.

Bogeyface · 29/11/2011 10:29

Nikon, we are not teachers but we do end the month down to our last penny, so if the car breaks down we do what we have done since August. Do without because we cant afford to get it fixed!

Thruaglassdarkly · 29/11/2011 14:28

Nikon - did you actually read any of my posts???? You know, the ones where I said I thought the strike was a bad idea??? Read what I said before you make assumptions.

Thruaglassdarkly · 29/11/2011 14:34

I have actually spoken in favour of private sector workers, thank you very much Nikon. I wasn't complaining about that or asking that the country keep me in the manner to which I have become accustomed at all. If you read my posts we're supporting 4 of us on one teacher's salary, so would love to know what your idea of my luxury lifestyle looks like.

twinklytroll · 29/11/2011 19:30

Thuaglassdarkly I never said it was easy to go without a wage. My point was that if you can't afford to lose a days pay you will also probably struggle to pay your extra contributions month in and month out.

toptramp · 29/11/2011 19:41

The thing is; there is always something else that needs paying for. No I havn't put any money aside as I need it ALL!

Oh well. I will strike but none of this business sits comfortably with me.

OP posts:
Thruaglassdarkly · 29/11/2011 20:11

twinkly - I know Sad. Which is why DH might end up leaving the pension scheme until I'm back at work.

Thruaglassdarkly · 29/11/2011 20:14

Plus, the strike is not going to change their minds anyway, so to me it seems a pointless waste of money for people who are losing pay. They're probably going to need to strike a LOT more before the government cave - if they ever do, which I doubt. Look what happened to the miners.

twinklytroll · 29/11/2011 20:44

They can't shut schools as they did pits.

We will not get all that we want but will make a difference if we all turn out on the marches.

fit2drop · 30/11/2011 00:04

noblegiraffe Tue 29-Nov-11 00:15:42

But to have people going 'I pay my subs, I don't see why I should even consider abiding by the majority decision' in a union is exceptionally annoying

People who pay subs to a union pay a union to work for them , to deliver a service,.

I do not pay my subs to be told what to do. I do not pay my subs to become a sheep. I do not pay my subs to lose my voice or my opinion. I am not buying a get out of jail free by letting someone else do my thinking for me.

NobleGiraffe it is not that people do not "even consider" abiding by a majority decision but that they still have the right TO consider IF they want to join a strike or not.
We do not pay a union to tell us what to do , we pay a union to halp, advise and support us in our choices.

fit2drop · 30/11/2011 00:05

ooops sorry did not mean to strike out (ohhh the pun is so not intended Grin
I meant to do the italic thing. Grin

noblegiraffe · 30/11/2011 09:00

"we pay a union to halp, advise and support us in our choices."

A trade union is not just a professional club that just sends you a magazine every so often. Did you not know that when you joined?

The right to form and join a trade union for the protection of workers' interests is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights it's considered to be that important. A trade union is a collective of workers who have banded together to ensure that their employers do not impose unreasonable conditions upon them. They bargain as a collective, and they act as a collective, because their strength is in their numbers. The employer might be able to ignore the complaints of a couple of people, but when a trade union speaks for all its members, that is not so easy to ignore, because the trade union can ask all its members to act.

For example, in the first school I worked in, there as a big problem with behaviour. It was getting worse, and one teacher in particular had been assaulted by the same student twice and didn't feel safe to teach him any more. The head proposed various measures, none of which included this student being permanently removed from the teacher's class, so the teacher got the union involved. The union called upon all its members in the school to refuse to teach the student. This caused chaos, and eventually alternative provision was found for the student.

When you say you want the support of a union, that is why they are in a position to be able to support you. That is why an employer is prepared to listen to a union. Not because they want to, and not because you've paid subs, but because of what a union is.

If you don't act when your union calls upon you to act, then you are weakening the union's position.

If you don't want to act when a union calls upon you to act, then perhaps a union is not something you should belong to.

AnyFucker · 30/11/2011 16:04

Thankfully, the people who don't appear to understand what a union is for appear to be in the minority

Just as well the majority buys into the collective action, as well as the collective bargaining isn't it ?

AnyFucker · 30/11/2011 16:08

"Unions: the people who brought you the weekend. And capped working hours. And employment rights and protections. And fair wages. And pensions. And ended child labour. What a bunch of greedy bastards."

Amen to that

fit2drop · 30/11/2011 20:08

noblegiraffe

I understand what you are saying but I still believe that I pay the union to work for me NOT to take away my right to choose and certainly not to badger me into actions I do not want to take for whatever reasons.

I do not believe that the way this strike has been handled will achieve anything or any part of what is being asked for.I certainly believe we have reason to be angry and have been fiercly shafted from a great height but to strike in the way we have done is acheiving nothing but the discontent of a few. Something with more impact would probably have had many more thousands of supporters.
So we are shafted again as if we do strike wholly and unconditionally, we are accused of bringing the country to its knees but purely because of the nature of the jobs we do we make sure that it causes as little disruption as possible.

Its not even a pebble in an ocean

I absolutely agree with the reasons , I just do not believe we will achieve anything this way.

I have no idea what the answer is.

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