AIBU teachers deserve a massive pay rise!

[GinDrinker00]

Week two into home schooling and I already want to open the gin before midday!
Eldest DC has autism and ADHD and is a struggle to motivate on a normal school day let alone at home. Lots of refusing to do work to the point the head is now ringing every week to help advise.
How do teachers and TAs cope? You all deserve a MASSIVE pay rise!

No, teachers wages are not good.

The wages of low to middle income jobs stink.

No one gets paid appropriately, when you consider the economy we live in.

Childcare is not adequately subsidised. University education is appallingly expensive. Student debt is disgusting.

People in this country, can have 2 adults working, and still need a food bank to make ends meet.

I work 60+ hours as a teacher. Without my husband, i couldn’t afford our childcare. Relatively speaking I have a low mortgage.

The gap between the top and the bottom in this country is an absolute disgrace.

Parents on this thread alone are complaining that their £1000 a term school only sent home twinkl sheets. My school are terrified that children are going to die, because they should have a social worker, but they don’t, because funding has been cut so much that social service thresholds are utterly insane. That alone demonstrates the divide that exists in our very wealthy nation.

We are an exceptionally wealthy nation. We keep our wealth at the top. That is the main issue with this pandemic. Our nhs is failing, because rich people do not want us to have one. People are struggling because the government wont support them financially until June.

Teachers, nurses, care workers, paramedics, lorry drivers, supermarket workers, post workers, delivery drivers, waiters, baristas, etc etc etc do not get paid adequately.

Suggesting that teachers and nurses will ‘at least still have employment’ at the end of it is dangerous. That is absolutely the message this government will pedal. And it’s appalling, because the reason people are losing jobs is because our very rich government refuse to support anyone financially.

Hopefully a lot of parents will now appreciate that teaching is not ‘easy’ and give them a break instead of complaining that it is ‘so important that little John’s pencil is found today’, or ‘Mary’s hair slide has gone missing from her bag’- and realise that teachers have far more pressing things to do, like actually teach.

Suggesting that teachers and nurses will ‘at least still have employment’ at the end of it is dangerous.

Unfortunately it’s true. Estimates of unemployment after this are ranging 20% and above.

the reason people are losing jobs is because our very rich government refuse to support anyone financially.

That’s just bollocks. I’m no fan of this government, but they’ve taken unprecedented measures to keep people in employment. They’ve had to borrow to do that. Unfortunately, the impact won’t last long.

No, it is not bollocks. If you’re self employed, you get support in June? How is that helpful? My husbands business will have folded by then.

Just because it’s true doesn’t mean it’s right. We could afford to support people, we choose not to. Wages are low because we choose for them to be low. This country is not poor, we just refuse to distribute wealth fairly,

The best thing anyone could do to support teachers is not vote Conservative at the next election. Seriously.

@tiredanddangerous totally agree. I’ve seen countless tweets by nhs staff, asking people not to clap, and just not vote conservative ever again.

No, it is not bollocks. If you’re self employed, you get support in June? How is that helpful? My husbands business will have folded by then.

It is bollocks. The PP just stated that the government ‘refusing to support people financially’ when in reality they’re spending billions on it.

I don’t think they got everything right for the self employed, but support is available. There are also loans available.

The loans have a 40% overdraft rate and they want your personal home as collateral.

Self employed people have no financial support till June. It doesn’t matter what they spend on it. It doesn’t help self employed people.

We need UBI. We are rich enough to support it. We don’t want to.

The point is that there have been unprecedented measures taken to support people financially.

Just because they have not taken the form you would like or suit other people’s circumstances better than yours does not mean that the government have refused to support anyone financially which was the point I was replying to.

They are refusing to support people better than they are able. To me that is refusal.

and it’s definitely not just me!!

www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/03/coronavirus-governments-support-workers-sick-pay-loans

“The UK is the only major country in Europe not to have announced it will subsidise employees’ wages or make direct cash payments to its citizens.”

It’s an absolute disgrace. However I’m not surprised.

I know this thread speaks mainly for U.K. teachers but teachers in Ireland are paid WAY more (I'm on over 52k, I have NO extra responsibilities and I'm also NOT at the top of the pay scale!) The children in my school finish at 2.40 and I leave school at 3/3.30. I don't take work home really either tbh. I think U.K. teachers have a raw deal and are expected to do WAY too much.

I’m a teacher and have specialised in SEN. I’m pretty happy with my salary (I have scope to keep moving up the pay scale as well) but my team of TAs need a pay rise. They are worth their absolute weight in gold and their pay is no where near to reflecting the job that they do.

It’s been a bit tricky the last 2 weeks providing work for the children in my class as I can’t go in to school (as on vulnerable list) but they’re all at home as well. So I’m trying to work out how to give each child what they need through means such as online learning platforms.

It’s hard work currently, more so than being in school I would say, because although in school we have a lot of behaviour to deal with, I can adapt what I’m doing to suit the child.

Nurses, HCAs etc are a different story. THEY NEED A HIGHER SALARY!

I miss being in class!

All of these professions need a rise.

This virus has demonstrated that we all play a vital part in society. The wages, in our very rich economy are far too low.

Nurses are vital, doctors are vital, carers are vital.

Nurses are currently in a horrific position because there are not enough of them, so they’re working in an unsafe environment.

My Aunt is a senior nurse. Nurses are underpaid, like most UK low to middle income workers when you consider how rich the UK is.

At present however, she’d like the government to stop lying, fund the NHS properly, and provide her with PPE!! Her life is currently at risk, because she doesn’t have the right equipment.

Extra money, because she’s suddenly having to risk dying for her job, is horrendous and verging on patronising. She should just be paid properly all the time.

I appreciate teachers but I think they earn a good wage actually. Higher than the average with less weeks worked overall in a year. Compared to say a carer on minimum wage working 12 hours shifts with no holiday or sick pay let alone pension, I fail to see why so many teachers moan about money tbh.

Most everyday workers in this country deserve a pay rise, sadly there isn’t a magic money tree so I’d say anyone who is still in a job by the end of this should be thankful.

All wages are too low in the UK for low to middle income workers.

The magic money tree analogy is ridiculous. It was created by the conservative government to give the illusion the UK isn’t a rich nation. It is.

Comparing one wage with another lower wage doesn’t make the higher wage good, it just makes it higher.

Teachers don’t get a good starting salary, especially when you consider the hours worked and the work it takes to become one. When you think they work 60-70 hours per week, hourly rate is awful.

That’s not to say there aren’t careers with worse starting salaries, higher hours worked or crapper working conditions. That doesn’t make teacher salaries better.

Holidays are irrelevant when considering teacher wages. They’re unpaid.

Teachers, nurses, police etc IMO are all paid appropriately with good benefits.

What they do deserve is better funding, access to the resources they need to do their jobs well and safely, more teachers, nurses and police officers so the ones there aren't insanely stretched and feel helpless and undervalued.

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I'm a teacher. Happy with my salary but would appreciate less pressure and box ticking. I'd appreciate more realistic approaches to education after all this.

I’m a teacher and in my circumstance my salary is adequate. This is because it’s a joint income with my husband.

I have 2 children. If my self employed husband became ill or died, I couldn’t afford to work. I wouldn’t be able to afford childcare.

That is not stability.

I also find it desperately sad, in such a rich economy, that many professionals state that they would be just happy if they were simply provided with safe working conditions.

I think that demonstrates how we’re not only undervalued by society, but many of us undervalue our own worth.

“The UK is the only major country in Europe not to have announced it will subsidise employees’ wages or make direct cash payments to its citizens.”

A few days after that article was published the government announced a huge package, particularly covering salaries to 80%.

Witch is much more generous than lots of other countries.

People cannot expect to see no financial repercussions of this. The economy has flatlined.

They are refusing to support people better than they are able

They’re borrowing billions to do this, we’ll be paying it back for decades, what more do you think is appropriate?

I have to agree with PP, I'd rather my school was properly funded with adequate resources than a pay rise. Although, that would be like a pay rise as I wouldn't be spending my own money on resources!

We don't have enough TA's and are losing a teacher next year, we are restricted on using the printer, art supplies etc are largely supplied by the staff, most of the reading books in my classroom are ones I have bought, getting new exercise books when the children have finished one is like pulling teeth.

I don't think it's going to get any better any time soon.

All of these professions need a rise.

There will be no money. In fact there’ll be cuts to public sector salaries soon enough because the tax receipts won’t be able to cover it.

The one profession I think should be prioritised and money found for are nurses. Their pay is not commensurate with what we’ve had to ask them to do in this crisis.

The governments support package involves 80% in June.

The loans have a 40% interest rate and your personal property is collateral.

My husbands business won’t exist in June.

Other countries are paying it now. That is what I want. We’re no poorer than those countries. So why do we have to wait until June? I wonder if they’re hoping the population will be lower by then.

In reality I want UBI. That way my husbands business might hang on. I would worry less about my students not having anything to eat. I would worry less about the clients at the food bank I volunteer at.

When other countries are supporting citizens now, why can’t we?

No, I totally disagree.

Nurses need to be paid properly all the time. Paying them danger money is ridiculous. They shouldn’t be in this level of danger.

My salary is ok. I’m an experienced teacher on ups. Yes the job’s tricky and exhausting and work is concentrated into crazy short periods followed by quieter holidays but I think there are other jobs as hard.

I’d prefer it if my school had enough money to fund a proper library.

And societal respect would be nice. Many have fuck all respect for teachers. Which is horrible.