Today we strike

[Perfect28]

Aibu to ask you to support all striking workers today? Please do, however you can.

I do already . In solidarity. Not sure what else I can do? Genuinely? Lots of people have sent their schools emails I read on here - so do I do that?

Not sure how to?

What do you mean by 'however you can'. Are you wanting money?

Ways to show support:

Plaster it all over your social media
Talk about your support for strikes to people in real life
Beep and wave as you drive past a picket line
Take coffees and teas and biscuits to workers on picket lines and hang around for a few minutes
Email your dc school expressing support for striking teachers
Never vote Tory
Join a union if relevant

Challenging the vitriol directed at strikers - whether on here or hearing comments IRL.

As a teacher, I would like a day to pass without being told I’m ruining children’s futures or I don’t care.

I’m on strike.

The main thing: work and read to educate yourself about the reasons for the strikes, and if you can find the compassion to support them, please do. Speak up about it to friends, family, on social media. If you hear someone speaking against them, challenge them gently and explain why you support them. If you see a picket, wave, take a leaflet, smile, or honk.

You don’t have to donate money but if you want to, all the unions will have strike funds you can donate to.

I’m taking DD on the picket with me!

If everyone striking was given the pay rises they are asking for it would create massive inflation for everyone, and cost of living would rise even more. I work in the private sector and have had 1% pay rises for the last 10 years. I do have sympathy with some of the reasons for striking but there isn't an endless pot of money to give everyone over-inflation pay rises.

This is a good one for sharing about teachers

Never would I do this . Our teachers are worth their weight in gold and more.

The list of legal reasons for strikes is short so most strikes are about "pay". This has been done deliberately to limit public support for strikers.

Read the poster I just attached above. Those are the actual reasons for the teacher strike.

Oh no sorry that's horribly blurred.

I'll try to find a clearer copy to post

Thanks I'd be interested to read it. The one bit I can read is "pay up!" at the bottom. Not helpful in reducing the impression that it's mostly about pay!

@Elsanore - thanks. I’m picketing on a mass walk later. I will print that out!

Many of the strikes are not just about pay, and many of the sectors striking have had massive real term pay cuts over the last 5-10 years.

Additionally, many of the reasons these workers go on strike are TO PROTECT the general public, not inconvenience them.

Eg, the rail strikes are about scrapping the staff on many small stations, leaving them with machines only, and making them less safe and less usable for the elderly/ disabled/ anyone who needs help or advice. The universities strikes are about deliberately gutting their pension funds and effective theft of the pensions they’ve been paying into, and the strategies of the universities to hire precarious staff to cover teaching short term so they don’t have to pay for proper staff; both of these will affect the quality of higher education. The teachers and the nurses strikes are about working conditions so awful they affect recruitment of staff; not enough people are training to be teachers and nurses and soon we’ll have no one to hire.

So even if you don’t have any compassion to the strikers, you should, out of PURE SELF INTEREST (longterm), support them.

Hope this is better

This is a big one I think. If people who have ‘formed’ this view are only ever agreed with, or if you don’t agree but stay quiet, they go forever thinking this way and living in their echo chamber. But I have found if you say, ‘well actually etc etc…..’, in a calm and non confrontational way explaining your perspective, a remarkable amount of them actually do stop to think about it. And some of them at least, may change their mind. I’m an adult, I can cope with having friends, who being otherwise nice, good people, have different views and opinions to me on a range of things, I have however got to the point where I can no longer ignore or nod along and I put my perspective across a lot more now than I ever used to when I was younger. And, as before, done in a calm and non confrontational way, it can be very effective.

I support the strike.

Problem is teachers are in so many different unions that It's not having a huge impact.

Several of DD's teachers are striking but the school is remaining open to all pupils. Same for all others in the area.

Why not one teaching union for England?

I've found that poster and read it but it is 90% about pay. Talks about recruitment and retention but suggests that is caused by lack of pay. Sorry but it definitely reads to me as if it is all about pay!

But workers haven’t been given pay rises and inflation is excessively high

These are good for more detail

Exactly. It would get much worse!

I don’t support any strikes especially ones that harm patients and disrupt children’s education. These strikes also are hurting parents who probably now can’t go to work or have had to find childcare. It’s so incredibly selfish.

You have my 100% support and I will be on the picket lines in solidarity later.

I support the strike - generally and for teachers in this case - but what do you expect me to do? Plus, today I'm rather busy trying to do my job while looking after my kids who can't go to school, so unfortunately no time to be at the picket lines.