NEU tells teachers not to go to work on Monday

[Workyticket]

skwawkbox.org/2021/01/02/breaking-union-tells-teachers-not-to-go-to-work-on-monday/

The secondary less important issue is the self righteous exceptionalism in the way some of the teachers on MN talk about themselves. As if they are the only people who might have to work harder, or suffer any detriment because of covid.

I recognise teachers pointing out that, in being required to work in close contact with large numbers in enclosed rooms for very extended periods with no PPE and no social distancing, we are exceptional within the general workforce. That's not about working harder, it's about lack of safety measures?

@Watchingbehindmyhsnds, what you're describing is pretty much what DD's school managed in the spring. There was some very grudging provision for key workers' children (and parents I know had to beg for that, the school interpreted it as 'two parents working in the NHS'). Hardly anyone in that school actually earned their salary for half of 2020, but they were still paid...

Anyone who is complaining because little Johnnie will miss school - shame on you.

This turn of phrase makes me sad. The education of children is not really something to mock.

@crocDays kind of true. I'd look for the cause of that though: academisation and changes to teaching qualifications mean a lot of teachers, in many cases whole schools or academy chains, aren't in unions anymore. In some cases they basically aren't allowed to be. So they have no mouthpiece. To take the high road they have to leave, or go abroad, both of which have being happening in unprecedented numbers for several years now. But that's not publicised as its all individual decisions, and the government of course is not going to mention how many experienced teachers it's losing.
I'd also say this section 44 walkout was taking the high road. It's not a strike over pensions or salary or even T&C, it's refusing to work in unsafe conditions AND to expose kids to unsafe conditions, any longer.

LaBStar, I hear you and I totally agree.

Never stop saying what you have said here. It needs repeating and it needs to sink in.

@year5teacher

If my wage is “drastically reduced” then I won’t realistically be able to pay my rent because I’m an NQT and therefore not on loads of money, and would have to move back home with my parents, who are vulnerable. Is that what you would like to happen, *@Flippingnightmare*? Like, that’s what you think I deserve for being a teacher, is it? Nice.

I think you should go to school and do the job that you are being paid for.

@MartiniDry

LaBStar, I hear you and I totally agree.

Never stop saying what you have said here. It needs repeating and it needs to sink in.

Which part? That we don’t need education past a certain point?

Ha! Teachers salaries aren't great and they are struggling to retain and recruit.

All the idiots taking a swipe at teachers just drive more out of the profession. Own goal.

@notevenat20

Anyone who is complaining because little Johnnie will miss school - shame on you.

This turn of phrase makes me sad. The education of children is not really something to mock.

Me too. Hopefully it’s a very rare notion.

Case numbers by specimen date:

By specimen date
29-12-2020 74,510

Today: 57,725

What the hell is wrong with people who want schools to be open as if there was not a pandemic going on? Do you really hate all teachers and kids that much?

Dear Teacher: Pls. stand up for yourselves AND OUR KIDS!
As parents we are powerless.

LaBStar
Let's just take a few of your examples:
Pharmacists - In every pharmacy I have been in everyone wears a face mask. There is a perspex screen that customers must stand behind. In my pharmacy, only two people are allowed in at a time after they have sanitised their hands and put on their face mask.

Vets: I took my cat to the vet. I had to wait in my car and phone to say I had arrived. They came out wearing masks and gloves and took my cat in by themselves. They then brought him back to me afterwards and they fed back to me on the phone.

Care workers: My adult child is in residential care. We are only allowed to see him outdoors, socially distanced and wearing a mask. No one except the regular staff are allowed in the home.

In just three of your examples, none of the above are taking the same level of risk as teachers.

A pp asked about independent schools earlier. They can't cope and they aren't safe either.
I spoke to a friend earlier who works in the independent sector. She has 25 in a class and smaller than usual classroom so it's still packed. They also have boarding houses which are breeding grounds for infection.
She is terrified but it sounds like the Head has pretty much blackmailed them by implying they will lose their jobs if they don't go in and work in what they all know are unsafe conditions.

What about other sectors though, if they refused to enter customers premises for example how would people manage with no Internet, electric etc.

@Flippingnightmare that’s a nice avoidance of my question. And, as you’ll see from my first post in this thread, I will be in work until I’m told not to go in by the government.

All the idiots taking a swipe at teachers just drive more out of the profession. Own goal.

The problem is that it has become tit for tat. Because some teachers here feel got at they take unreasonable defensive positions which encourages people to get at them.

As a parent I am behind the teachers.

What about other sectors though, if they refused to enter customers premises

What the actual fuck are you on about? Do you genuinely think you're making a good point here?

@Flippingnightmare are you prepared to go and sit in a small unventilated room with 30 unmasked young adults or children for an hour? And then another hour with another 30, then another hour with another 30 etc etc? Then rinse and repeat five whole days a week?

Because there are people on this board going nuts about people passing them too close on a path in the park, or someone in the supermarket with their nose poking out of their mask. Yet expecting teachers to be doing the above without a second's complaint.

What is it? Lockdown fatigue

Or some people figuring out it wasn’t the apocalypse after all? Transmission rates do not equal death rates.

@Love2cycle

What about other sectors though, if they refused to enter customers premises for example how would people manage with no Internet, electric etc.

Well, perhaps they could wear a mask and observe social distancing when they work, as their employers advise...

why can independent schools cope?

What makes you think they are coping? They’ve had the same isolations and shutdowns and ill or deceased staff as everywhere else.

And, unless the government hurry up and close schools, they’re going to be filled with international boarders in the next few days. Some of them started the year with boarders from Wuhan and a mysterious flu wiping out their pupils.

@noblegiraffe You are not going to win an argument here just as I am not going to change a single one of your opinions. It's probably worth just considering being kind to people in that case.

Why are the unions acting like this is a short term position? I don’t disagree with their points, they are there to protect their members after all, but if schools aren’t safe now, they won’t be safe in two weeks. So just say that - “schools aren’t safe, and realistically we don’t want them open until at least Easter.
I’m not saying that teachers are all clamouring for schools to close until Easter, just that the (valid) points the unions raise aren’t really quick fixes. You can’t suddenly double the amount of teaching space to allow for proper distancing, for instance.
I don’t disagree with what they’ve done, I just don’t know why anyone is pretending it won’t still be necessary for them to be doing it in a few weeks.

@Love2cycle

What about other sectors though, if they refused to enter customers premises for example how would people manage with no Internet, electric etc.

I've had workmen in my house during lockdown, on a couple of occasions. They've been masked, I've been masked, and I stayed in another part of the house throughout, unless they really needed to speak to me/show me something.

How in the world does that compare to a teacher's job with 30 unmasked people in the same room?