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.

I can't understand why anyone actually teaching is as passive and disinterested as this.

Quite, it's strange isn't it.

I can assure you I haven’t, @noblegiraffe .

To be honest, it seems a bit daft to me to be arguing about it. You (in a general sense) aren’t going to vote differently because of me; likewise, I’m not going to change my mind on this.

@ilovesooty the unions are the ones with the clout, with the power, with the money, I’m not. They aren’t even able to get a HT to adhere to maternity laws so I’m not hopeful they can bring about the huge change that’s needed.

I can assure you I haven’t

Gosh, then there are two extraordinarily apathetic teachers who think there's no point in doing anything ever to try to change things in education knocking around MN.

How depresssing.

And plenty more in our schools by the look of it. It certainly is depressing that they don't even care. Well, not enough to do more than shrug their shoulders, anyway.

Are you accusing me of being the OP, or what? I don’t tend to do very well with sarcastic, hinty-type posts.

Believing a strike won’t work isn’t the same as being disinterested or not caring. I care enormously about a number of things but I can’t actually solve most of them. That doesn’t mean I don’t care, but I’m not going to do something I believe to be pointless just so that I can say I did something.

But you’ll ride on the coat tails of your colleagues who are trying? Or you’ll sit in the staff room complaining but then go back to your classroom?

Are you accusing me of being the OP, or what? I don’t tend to do very well with sarcastic, hinty-type posts.

No, I thought you were a poster who had previously come onto my threads to say there was no point in trying to improve things (and it wasn't about strikes back then), with similar levels of apathy.

There is always a point to trying to improve things, but I do think we all have to accept that people will have different ideas about how best to do that. I understand why people strike but personally I don’t think this one will achieve anything, so I’m not supporting it. I don’t want to rub people up the wrong way, but equally, I can’t change a sincerely held belief because it might piss some people off.

Except you don’t have any ideas on how to change. Except for, hold on and hope that a different government improves it with their own goodwill.

By

There is always a point to trying to improve things, but I do think we all have to accept that people will have different ideas about how best to do that.

Those posters who have said that strikes won't work haven't come up with anything else. So what then? Do nothing?

Don't know whether it's still the same (or even has the same name) but my mum was with NASUWT (she's retired now) as she didn't believe in strike action.

@Serialcatmum Yes, I've been getting fed up with the exact same thing. It's become too much.

Perfectly within your rights not to strike, as long as you understand that others are perfectly within their rights to consider you to be scabbing.
Presume you’ll take any pay rise that is won by the actions of others?

Presume you’ll take any pay rise that is won by the actions of others?

As has already been pointed out, there is no mechanism not to.

You could set up a standing order to a charity.

For how much? For how long?

I used to think this way in the late 70s and 80s when I was striking. But over the years I've mellowed. I didn't personally earn anyone's rise for them, so it's not for me to dictate what they do.

Later in my career, I was working in special education when strikes were called, and the unions made us exempt because of the nature of the children. I still kept my rise.

I went on strike back at the beginning of my career because I needed the money. Somone else getting it too, is irrelevant, whatever their choice.

Indefinitely.

I can't get too bothered about them getting payrises others fought for. It is what it is. I mind more about the spinelessness, the apathy, the total lack of interest in or understanding of collective action, and the short term decision making undermining strike action. I think that's utterly despicable. Teachers used to care, not sit on their backsides shrugging their shoulders.

No, me neither, although I think they should be supporting it knowing it could result in more pay for no effort.

Its more the ‘what could they possibly do with all that extra money except keep it when it’s been given against their will?!’ ridiculousness I object to.

If enough teachers in your school strike they may have to close to children anyway.

I don't know whether striking should be a compulsory part of union membership but on the other hand, I understand that there might come a point where you have to take that step or there are no other options in order to make your feelings count. No-one wants to feel like they are being taken advantage of.

@Isitsixoclockalready and this is why I've decided to come out of the NEU.

I should have the freedom and right to be a teacher, to not be in a striking union and to stand by my own values and beliefs. If trachers can't do this then teaching unions would become more like dictatorships.

But teachers so rarely strike. We're the meek and mild profession (correlation with all the female teachers ?) And we always capitulate. We have no Mick Lynch to lead the charge and so often our members just shrug their shoulders- until it affects them personally, that is. Then it's all 'why won't the union do anything?' Well, we ARE the fucking union. Nothing changes unless we're in it together.