AIBU to expect teachers to strike in the school holidays and not in term time.

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

Well am I?

Considering that teachers are always insisting that they work during the school holidays, how come they never strike during the school holidays and always wait until term time to do so?

Odd that!

[beepbeep]

If you are paid by the hour or doing supply, then you do not paid for your holidays. But if you have a permanent contract & are paid monthly then you ARE paid for you 13 weeks a year holidays as part of your annual salary. If you think you don't get paid for your holidays then you're on a blooming good wack for in effect working 8 months of the year (& yes I know you work outside of contact time, but so do most people).

[Spikeytree]

We are paid for 195 days. When we strike we lose 1/195 of our pay.

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

"Actually I know loads of people over the years who were on holiday, became ill, got a sick note and got their holiday leave back"

I've done this too. Thought it was standard practice.

But now i'm digressing.

[stargirl1701]

YABU. The entire purpose of striking is to cause disruption. What a strange idea.

[FactOfTheMatter]

Isn't it obvious that you can't withdraw your labour at times when you're not required to work?

[knitknack]

Flipping heck WE ARE NOT PAID FOR OUR HOLIDAYS. Our pay is divided up and paid as equal amounts over 12 months. We are paid for working 195 days of the year - that DOES NOT INCLUDE HOLIDAYS. Honestly - how difficult is it to understand?!

[HumphreyCobbler]

gosh, how hard is it to understand that teachers are not paid for the holidays?

Teachers are free to do other work during the holidays. As they are not paid for them

[ivykaty44]

I don't want term time extended, I don't want the school day lengthened. I support the strke of teachers as a parent and think thank goodness she only has two years left

No one would pay attention to a strike that didn't cause them distruption and that is the point, parents get to know there is a problem

[poshfrock]

I don't understand why many people seem to not want teachers to be well paid and /or think they are overpaid.
This is your child's education we are talking about. I WANT my child to be taught by the best person possible for the job. By someone who has studied their subject in depth at university, left with a decent grade and had made a conscious decision that they want to spend the next 30 years sharing that knowledge with future generations with all the positives and negatives which that entails.
I DO NOT want someone who has spent 3/4 years pissing their student loan up a wall, graduating with a third class degree who then decides to become a teacher because they think another year at uni would be nice and at the end of it they get a job with kids which gives them 3 months holiday a year. And this is precisely what you will get if you keep on treating teachers poorly. To give your kids the best education you need the best, most dedicated brains. And to get them and keep them you have to pay them well and support them. Pay peanuts and you get monkeys. Is that what you want for your children's futures ?
And for the record I am not a teacher; just a concerned parent.

[KinkyDorito]

Parents need to know. I think we'd be hard pushed to find people happy about these proposals for their children. I've read so many people who are angry about the fine system and not being able to take term-time holidays. Imagine what that's going to be like if they significantly extend the school year.

[HSMMaCM]

Teachers are not paid for their holidays, but I think they should be. If your school haven't told you why they are striking, then why don't you suggest they add a note to the newsletter (which I'm sure they have already done).

[thebody]

Ivy, posh,kinky, exactly. totally agree your posts.

[knitknack]

We MAY be on a 'bloomin good wack' (although for a masters-level profession (which is what GOVE wants, and yes I do have one) is very low compared to other sectors. But it would be a whole lot MORE of a 'bloomin good wack' IF our holidays are cut because THEN THEY'LL HAVE TO PAY US FOR THE EXTRA DAYS (because, you see, we ARE NOT PAID FOR HOLIDAYS).

/exhausted

[OddBoots]

If the strike in term time has more parents asking why the teachers are striking then all the better, when parents realise the extent of the planned destruction of state education then they too are more likely to want to act.

[FactOfTheMatter]

Teachers are not able to claim sick pay during holidays.

It is an interesting feature of teachers' contracts that they have a set number of hours of "directed time" which includes teaching, duties, a small amount of planning time (10%), parents' evenings etc, but not planning or marking. Teachers are not directly paid for a large proportion of the work we do, which is why it's a salary, of course, not a wage per hour.

[GlaikitFizzog]

I'm just glad Gove has no say in Scotland.

Fwiw I support the striking teachers, how else do they get their point across? Although, long term the "work to rule" strategy might be more effective.

[KinkyDorito]

Poshfrock exactly. At the moment, we are facing a future off all new teachers who only last a couple of years before they leave due to being stuck on low pay. Many more experienced teachers are already talking about leaving and this is before these changes come in.

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

OK then, based on the assertions that teachers don't get paid during the holidays I concede that IABU!

[KinkyDorito]

The current drop out rate is 50% of teachers who train are no longer in the classroom after 5 years.

[FactOfTheMatter]

Teachers have been 'working to rule' (or taking action short of strike action) for some time. However 'rule' includes planning and marking, which isn't limited in contracts, but still has to be done to a high standard.

[Lweji]

I assume that the teachers expect the parents to watch or read the news.

Hmmm, didn't realise a strike was to cause disruption. Thought it was to get more money. Don't see how disrupting parents does that tbh.

Parents are voters.
The government doesn't want to be responsible for children not to have an education, or to have a large percentage of the population unhappy.

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

"Well if you've falsified sick leave to claim back leave, that's fraud"

Who said anything about falsifying sick leave? If you become ill during your annual leave and you get a sickness certificate from the dr and claim back your annual leave then that's a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

[KinkyDorito]

knitknack I am under the impression that he wants to extend our hours without changing pay. I am hoping he can't do this, but fear that it is entirely possible. If he had to pay us all for the extra, say, 6 weeks, it wouldn't happen.

[Groovee]

Yabu, strike action needs to be disruptive. Doing it in the holidays doesn't cause any disruption.