Teacher strikes and work plans

[Yellowcoffeecup]

Not sure who to be pissed off with teachers or work colleagues.

Big face to face team meeting next Wednesday. Whole morning.

Been in diary for couple of months.

Due to teachers strike colleagues now saying they can't make the meeting. They're saying they can't join on line either because of distraction by their children.

Fine - take a days annual leave or make alternative arrangements for your children.

Not a meeting to easily rearrange.

AIBU to be pissed with teachers ?
AIBU to be pissed with colleagues ?
AIBU all round ?

If they all take a days leave they'll still not be there so what difference would it make to the meeting.

How is taking a day's leave going to help with the meeting which seems to be the most important thing

I'm a teacher who has had to change my plans on numerous occasions due to the train strikes. Had post arrive late due to postal strikes. But I support those strikes and have had to be flexible. Wednesday is my day off. Can't visit my elderly Mum as usual due to the train strikes. But I'm not starting threads on here about it. Instead I'll be looking after mine and a friend's child , being supportive and flexible. You should try it.

Well everything else is the teachers’ fault so that may as well be too 🙃

I think teachers want to cause the disruption. The fact you have no sympathy for people is another issue.

🙄 bet the meeting is so important. More important that the cause being protested. Not.

As others have said, if all those people have to take leave and miss the meeting, why wouldn’t the meeting need to be rearranged anyway? Surely it’s the same difference? This makes no sense and you sound very inflexible and unreasonable.

I don't understand when people say school isn't childcare. Of course it is (as well as providing education of course). Otherwise all households would need to have one non-working adult at home at all times. Or pay a standby nanny at all times.

Well don’t you sound a peach.

Agree with OP and @Waterlooville. Yes I get the point be angry at the government etc etc- but if you are minding your children you are not working.
I co-wrote our organisation's hybrid working policy, and it's clearly outlined.

Our (Civil Service and very flexible) department is very clear- the option of working from home is not intended to save those with children money on childcare or act as a back up. If you do not have suitable childcare, you need to take appropriate leave, as you will not be in a suitable working environment otherwise.

This is not an emergency; the strike dates have been provided with plenty of notice.

Yes, I had to rearrange a long-planned reunion due to train strikes. My daughter had to wear her arm in a cast for an additional week because her consultant was taken off-clinic during the nursing and ambulance strikes. I was supportive of the strikers though so just sucked up the need to be flexible.

Blame the Conservatives

Wow. I pity your colleagues!

So, I work for the NHS, as does my husband. Our annual leave doesn't even cover all of the school holidays. We literally don't have the option to just take random extra annual leave days (and even if we did, it would come at the cost of cancelling patient appointments). We have no family close by so are basically screwed re our school aged children. Maybe spare some compassion for your colleagues, who may not have the annual leave to spare (after all, this late in the financial year why should they have factored in keeping four days back for potential strike action?)

In spite of our challenge, we still support the teachers in their right to strike. As others say, get angry with the Tories. Not the teachers.

Yes sorted because it’s not like our 4 weeks of annual leave a year has to already cover 12 weeks of school holidays and now several strike days as well. Times like this calls for a little bit of flexibility and understanding.

If my health board goes down this route then we're still screwed as I've had to use all my carer's leave already on standard winter bugs (as our youngest's nursery now won't give any meds for temperatures post-covid and insist on kids being collected).

Some form of education is compulsory for children , and the majority choose to send their children to school to comply with that. They aren't using it as "free childcare," they are complying with the law. I can think of much nicer things to be doing with day other than work if I were "using school as free childcare. "

You sound like the worst kind of boss, frankly. So short-sighted and unbending. Instead of appreciating this is an exceptional circumstance beyond your employees' control, you are throwing a hissy fit about a meeting needing to be rescheduled. Yes, it's annoying, but it can't be helped if people can't find childcare for just a day. They've been honest, rather than let the meeting be interrupted by their kids. And it's not teachers' fault either – it's the Govt's fault for 13 years of underfunding schools.

Blame the government

so OP is your issue that you resent that your colleagues are being paid to work but not actually able to attend the meeting? So alternative annual leave/unpaid leave means they don’t attend but it’s not a paid working day?
Really this is an issue for management.

Not sure why the colleagues deserve empathy if they’re basically binning work off for the day. Doesn’t sound like they’re struggling on through to be honest.

It's the government's fault for undervaluing teachers for years. The whole point of a strike is to cause disruption. Maybe someone will take note of how vital teaching is to the economy now and in the future, pay teachers properly and fund schools adequately.

If your colleagues take leave they won't be at your meeting either. What are they meant to do? Pop into work for the morning and leave a 5 year old to fend for themselves? Or leave the DC to cause chaos in the background of a teams meeting?

He he

Shit happens, rearrange the meeting.

You can't blame people with children if teachers on strike what else can they do!!! Thank your lucky stars its only one day and not lockdown!!

Teachers can only strike about pay.
But please listen to what teachers have contunually said - they are striking about pay and the fact the payrise if unfunded.

Do you understand how this will impact on the education of our children? Of our future doctors/teachers/lawyers/accountants?

It means bigger classes and less choices.

I am currently looking at the costings for our next year's SIxth Form intake. 200 odd 16 year olds who want to do a whole mix of A levels/Btec courses. We need to average out X amount of students on courses to make KS3 financially viable. We have some bigger classes, which help cover the costs of some of the less popular courses. But too many small classes and we go into the red. I won't bore you with the details, but, I bet you can guess, I have a spreadsheet.

The 5% payrise is unfunded.

This means all the teachers salaries are 5% more expensive. Which means a course (9-10 hours a fortnight) is more expensive to run.

The school does not get a corresponnding 5% increase in income.

So, we have to make tougher decisions on courses. We are going to have to run less options. The less popular ones may have to be ditched. Maybe the Politics A level? Further Maths? BTEC sport? Shit, only 5 students want to do Music. Forensic Science has a big uptake thank god, but maybe not enough to counteract the low numbers on Fashion. Chemisty popular - but too big for one class - but not enough for two. Only 7 want to do French. That will make a loss if we run it. Only 3 German. We say no to them and then the Fashion/French/German degree they have always dreamed of becomes impossible. Would you want to make that call? Who decides which course make the cut?

I won't even talk about the teacher recruitment/retention crisis.

I can take some inconvenience if it means teachers get a fair salary and it is funded properly.

KS5 not KS3... it has been a long, long week.