to think that the NUT advertising in the press about teachers' retirement age..

[wimblehorse]

..is a bit off?
The advert is asking people to sign up to an online petition that teachers should not have to work until they're 68 and if you agree to sign up to the petition.

It also says that they don't think nurses, police, ambulance drivers etc should have to work until this age.
Teaching is a stressful, demanding job and I can quite understand not wanting to do it full-time until age 68.

However I am not convinced that teachers warrant such "singling out" above other jobs. Of course the NUT is standing up for its members, however there are many other deserving (and undeserving) jobs out there and I would feel happier if we were "all in this together" and could have some sensible discussions about retirement age, gradual winding down of work etc for everybody.
AIBU?

YANBU.

They're the NUT- the clue is in the title.

If you want the NUT to campaign on your behalf LeQ, become a teacher and join them.

Yes I know they're the NUT. But it has (rightly or wrongly) got my back up that they want me to sign up to a petition to say "oh no, of course you shouldn't have to work until such a great age". I'll carry on until I'm 80 then.
I won't be signing the petition.
If there was a general petition about high retirement ages, that the NUT supported, I would sign up to it.

Can you not imagine what it would be like to be nearly seventy and in charge of a class full of boisterous five (or fifteen) year olds all day? It's in a totally different realm, physically, from a desk job.

Some jobs are more easily extendable than others - I wouldn't want to be a nurse or a bin man pushing seventy either.

"If there was a general petition about high retirement ages, that the NUT supported, I would sign up to it."

I think that's a great idea. Why not start one?

I think that's a great idea. Why not start one?
erm 'cos then I'd actually have to do something rather than just moaning about it

Are the teaching unions planning any more strikes to get the public on their side?

But there are loads of jobs that aren't desk jobs that will be hard to do at 68. Care assistants, teaching assistants, cleaners, shop assistants, nursery nurses, factory work, park staff, delivery jobs, etc. I think some middle class people forget all the jobs that lots of working class do that aren't desk jobs.

YABU to expect the NUT to campaign on behalf of everyone. They wouldn't be doing their best for the people that pay their NUT subscriptions if they were to do that.

It's asking if you would sign because it's about whether you want your children or grandchildren taught by people who are in their mid to late sixties. I know I don't.

And if it says that they don't think other public service workers should have to work until that age either, then they are supporting people who aren't teachers anyway. I don't want to be attended to be a paramedic that is in his sixties, or have a sixty five year old chasing a burglar out of my house, or have a sixty seven year old nurse looking after my loved ones while they are in hospital. But I'd quite happily go to a sixty seven year old for legal advice, or to sort our my taxes, or manage the shop where I get my food. Jobs are different, and they cannot all be treated the same.

It is the NUT's job to campaign on behalf of their members. But it is a hard pr battle to win with the public, to get them to support this only in regard to teachers.

The NUT has never said that everyone else should work until they are 68- it's absurd to think that they believe this simply because they are not campaigning for everybody.

They campaign on behalf of their members- teachers. Hence their name.

But loads of people in stressful / physical jobs have a career change in their late middle. So why not teachers?

My hairdresser is re-training as a book-keeper because she feels that she can probably only do her very physical job for another 10 years.

My DH is planning a career change from his high pressure city role in the next 5 years.

A doctor friends of ours is planning to go part-time in the next 5 years.

I've had this discussion with my partner a couple of times, there are plenty of occupations where it would seem unreasonable to expect people to continue to age 68.

However, life expectancy keeps increasing, so there are 4 choices to deal with the extra pension cost:

1. Take the pension later (ie retire at 68).
2. Increase pension contributions.
3. Make the pension pay less per month.
4. Fund from elsewhere.

Obviously the unions want option 4, the government want options 1 and 2. No-one seems to want option 3.

I work in IT, and we got shafted our pensions completely changed a few years back, lost Final Salary pension, increased employee contributions, later retirement age, and it's also going to pay less when we do retire. So basically all the worst options for the employee.

I've got sympathy for them, but don't think they deserve isolation from the harsh economic reality. It would be interesting to see the analysis of the pension shortfall though, as that hasn't been shown so far.

I am trying hard to imagine a 68 year old teacher being enthusiatic enough to teach a class of 30 9 year olds and leave them excited about what they have learned. Whilst some people could certainly do this, I doubt it is true of the majority and I think that it would have an adverse impact on the education of my children.

That said, I also think that the public sector need to get a grip and wake up to the reality of the fact that the final salary pensions of yester-year are no longer affordable and they can lament that fact all they like, but there is no longer any money in the kitty to pay them.

I think the solution lies in a more radical review of public sector pay and benefits coupled with an analysis of what it is actually reasonable to expect people to do at various ages. It is no good the government simply saying "you will work to 68" without looking at whether that actually delivers decent public services.

And the purpose of a strike is not to 'get the public on their side'.

It's asking if you would sign because it's about whether you want your children or grandchildren taught by people who are in their mid to late sixties. I know I don't

Actually, I would be fine with that if the 68 year old was as spritely as my 72 year old (ex-teaching) MIL.

Of course I can imagine that for a 68 year old in sole charge of a class of 30 5 (or 15) year olds may be shattered by the end of the week and therefore not particularly up to it. However, my 65 year old aunt teaches approx 2 classes a week and runs extra A-level revision sessions at the school she taught at for the last 40 years.

The longer a teacher works after 50, the younger they die. If teachers work (in class) til 68 most won't reach 70. Those that work til 65 already have a short life expectancy.

I honestly don't know many jobs that have those kind of stats.

(I'll try and look up the original data; this is based partly on my dad watching most long-working colleagues collapse within 18 months after retirement but I'm pretty sure his union had proper data for it.)

The data needs to be comparative if it's going to make any sort of impact, so you need to find out life expectancy of lots of other ocupational groups and not just professional groups. I doubt you will find the data though.

YANBU if they are capable then they should work as long as the rest of us

If they are in ill health then, like the rest of us, they should find another job or retire if they have enough in their pension.

The best teachers at my old school were in their late 60's

I think economically people have to work longer. But tbh I anticipate in years to come a host of younger people moaning about the older workers who are not really up to the job anymore. Because although people are living longer, they aren't necessarily healthy, often having chronic age related illnesses that does affect people's ability to do their job as well as when they were younger.

Okay, I take that back, after more research at least one union think that thelife expectancy thing is an urban legend, although I guess in my dad's college it held true.