Don't want to join the teaching strike

[SweetRascal]

I'm a primary school teacher of 12 years and with the NEU. For my own reasons, I don't want to vote yes to striking but will this be judged negatively by other teachers? I just don't feel comfortable with the disruption it causes.

Not only will staff who don't strike reap any benefit of an improved salary increase, they also will not have lost hundreds of pounds in strike days.

Any teachers striking should be fined for absence like I am for taking the kids on holiday. Fair’s fair right?

I'll lose a day's pay. Will that help?
I also pay over the odds when I take my kids on holiday during the holidays.

But if we're going down this route, can we also fine kids for being late to lessons and wasting time in lessons?
Can I also claim money back for all the time I put in over and above my contracted hours?

Don't be ridiculous. Teachers exercising their legal rights to fight for fair and conditions is quite a different to your wish to save a couple of hundred pounds on a trip to Centre Parks.

The fact that anyone sees their right to access a slightly cheaper holiday as the same level of need as teachers right to fair working conditions says a huge amount.

You know everyone striking loses a day's pay?

There's always one... 🙄

I didn't say you didn't but its incredibly naive to assume everyone had the same struggles as everyones circumstances were different. That goes across the board in life.

I'm shocked that anyone would judge a desperate parent struggling to feed their hungry children.

If someone working as a teacher is in the position of being "a desperate parent struggling to feed their hungry children" if they lose a day's pay, that says a lot about the state of teachers' salaries.

It was in reference to the earlier comments about the year long miners strike not teachers.

That makes more sense, thanks

But that kind of is the point (sorry maybe I misunderstood your post)- that the non strikers will be sitting on their asses, getting paid and then still getting the benefits the striking members thought for.

I come from a country where unions are not a thing even now as much and strikes much less frequent than in the UK. I learned very early on what they are about, one has to be very thick not to understand the idea of strength in numbers and benefits of pulling in together.

For people who come up with rubbish like "students already lost a lot of learning because of covid" ladidadi, will stuents benefit by having a huge number of exhausted non-specialism teachers now it's arder and harder to recruit, as people saw through bs government campaigns, where half the subjects are shortage subjects that can't recruit (I remember when I was doing PGCE, music trainees were told good luck finding a job lolz, no jobs and all of you graduating- now a shedloads of unfilled Music vacancies around the country), where people are leaving en masses over workload and conditions.

I really can't phantom who could say "It's in kids interest for us to not strike and do nothing about it"- you have to be extremely naive to think strikes are hurting education. One or two days is nothing compared to what is coming really.

I agree that one or two days of teachers striking will make little difference to students' education.

I don't think one or two days would make any difference to the government at all. I mean look at the train service? The NHS?

So it might make striking teachers feel better but it would make zero difference to the long run intractable problems with funding, provision, curriculum, poverty etc. Only an election could do that - and probably more than one. And some economic growth.

The real terms pay fall has occurred since 2008 so makes sense it would take 15 years to reverse. That would see current reception through to university!

Just seen your latest post OP and good for you. You must do what you think is best.

I'm really worried that some teachers can seemingly shut out any awareness that any pay increase offered is completely unfunded by government. Not only can schools not recruit and retain staff, they'll have to make staff redundant too.

This is a genuine question. Would it be better if instead of supporting teaching unions that the government basically ignores, we emailed our MPs every month about the problems there are in our schools?

I’ve said this on here before (and I’m anticipating being jumped on) but: good. This is happening anyway so we need massive staff cuts, we need huge class sizes and poor SEN provision and miserable children with low literacy levels* because that’s when the parents will start to take note. There’s a thread on here just now about a kid with certain disabilities being excluded from a year-group trip, and people are outraged. We need more of that outrage in education. That’s when we’ll see change.

*this is all already happening, by the way.

because that’s when the parents will start to take note

What they need is for parents to understand that this isn’t the teachers doing - they are directed in what they can and can’t do - they are part of a system they can’t change.

Blame the government, their policies and practices they enforce on schools, the reduced budgets and lack of understanding of children’s needs.

These pay rises will come from the school budget - so they won’t have money for resources or TAs - unless they are SEN TAs paid for out of the SEN budget and that’s based on children being assessed.

Some parents refuse to get their child ‘labeled’ so there’s no budget for those children.

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Vote no, don't tell people if you are worried about their reaction

Don't know why the poem has strike through- I copied and pasted it was not trying to make some kind of point.

Please strike. Strike for the kids if not for yourself and I say this as a parent who will be inconvienced.

Do both! Things are in a dire state. Have you noticed how the press only started reporting how bad the NHS situation was when people started striking? No teacher wants to strike. It’s a last resort when education becomes unsafe and the funding so poor it’s impacting life changes as you watch colleagues leave in droves. I left and didn’t return. They have my full support.

Why does it have to be "instead of"?

I want to spend limited time doing the most effective thing. I don't think strikes will work.

Perhaps others see things differently.