Teachers on strike - do they usually name names?

[hester]

Just had a letter from dc's school, warning us of strike action at the end of the month and listing by name those teachers who will be on strike, and those who won't. They will close the classes of the striking teachers, and keep open the others.

Is this normal practice? I would have thought it would expose individual teachers to some irate parents? I also expected that they would treat it as a whole school issue, provide what cover they can, maybe suspend lessons and hav a games day in the hall. And if they couldn't do that, close the whole school?

mrz that isnot how pensions work. You know about teaching but pensions are my line of business. There is a risk connected with a surplus/ deficit. Surpluses come about in the good years and deficits in the bad years. The difference between a money purchase pension and a final salary scheme is who bears the risk of making up the deficit. In this case it will be the tax payer.

I am sorry but that is not a political question: its a cold hard financial fact.

But all of the money used to pay public workers (and pay their taxes) comes from private industry. Private supports public and not vice versa.

If it helps Strix, just imagine that the 14% that contributes to my pension comes directly from the taxes I pay leaving your taxes to contribute to somthing more worthwhile like saving Greece

Oh thank you, I feel much better.

The 2006 agreement with the Government made changes to the Teachers? Pension Scheme that made it sustainable for the long term. The House of Commons Select Committee and the National Audit Office have both confirmed that the cost of public sector pension schemes will fall as planned. Lord Hutton?s final report says that public sector pensions if unchanged from now would fall from 1.9 per cent of GDP now to 1.4 per cent of GDP in 2060.

This agreement made provision for teachers to pay more for their pensions, or for other changes to be made if the valuation requires it. This shows the willingness of teachers to accept their share of any increasing costs ? but the Government wants to abandon that agreement and impose changes without any informed basis without any negotiations at all.

Which union are you in, cornsilk?

Strix the head wouldn't allow school to close if there are teachers willing to work. More teachers are striking than not but they are still taking classes.

ATL Feenie

Am wondering how it'd work in a secondary school. Primaries are relatively straightforward in that their teacher is either there or not, but in secondary you can't really have classes hanging around for some lessons waiting for others where theire teacher is present.

Fab that advice isn't quite right, if you check the NAHT website about heads covering classes. Depends on how many teachers are in.

Cornsilk, I would check the ATL website - you do have a conscience clause whereby you don't have to strike. But I don't know why you weren't balloted.

our secondary is opening for some year groups only with classes being covered by senior management in the hall if their teachers are striking.

I am NASAWT so will be in teaching those pupils that are coming in for their timetabled lesson.

So it seems to me pot luck if a year group have normal lessons or mass cover lessons on the day.

NASUWT...sorry for crappy spelling

I'm in the ATL cornsilk and that isn't the information I've been emailed

this is what I received tonight

Following our YES vote last week, we're still waiting for an indication from the government that it wishes to come to the table to negotiate in good faith.

Unless we hear from the government, we will continue with our action.

You will see, however, the government is sending mixed messages. On the one hand, Danny Alexander, Treasury Chief Secretary involved in talks with the TUC, made a speech to the IPPR last Friday which re-enforced the government's intention to raise pension contributions. This comes even though talks don?t finish until 27 June and may be extended to July.

On the other hand, Francis Maude, Cabinet Office Minister also involved in talks, wrote last Friday to Prospect, a civil service union, saying 'The talks around pension reform are being taken seriously by the government and no decisions have been taken. This is a genuine consultation, to which the government is committed to try to agree a way forward.'*

Without clarity, we must move towards action assuming the government?s proposals to increase contributions will become a fait accompli in July.

I'd also like to share the answers to a few common questions from our pensions hotline to help you plan for 30 June:

? Our webpage of events is constantly updated with marches and rallies across England and Wales for you to attend on 30 June with other ATL members as well as NUT and UCU colleagues.

? You can pledge to attend an event here and we will send you more details of your nearest event.

? You don't have to tell your head or manager whether you're planning on taking action. ATL nationally has notified schools in writing about how many members are being called on to strike. There is no legal obligation to provide names. If you?re pushed, we recommend you inform your rep.

? You can take action even if you didn't vote if you're eligible to be in the TPS and if your school or college was notified that there are members taking action in the workplace.

I know it is not easy for ATL members to decide to strike, and you cannot be compelled. But I also know that the more members who take action, the clearer our message to government, and I thank you in advance for giving me the backing I need in the negotiations ahead.

As you may have heard, the NAHT has also decided to ballot its members for action in the autumn, which means many heads are sympathetic to our campaign.

You can help explain the reasons why we're taking action by sharing our letter to parents. A copy is attached to this email.

Many thanks for your continued support.

With best wishes.

Mary Bousted
General secretary, ATL

We understand our campaign comes when everyone is taking a hit to their pockets. But school, college and university staff have already taken a share of cuts with a two-year pay freeze, redundancies and the same VAT and fuel increases as the rest of the population.
Our pensions are not gold-plated ? the average is £10,000 ? and the government's proposals could amount to a 30% cut over the course of retirement. It?s a short-sighted plan as it will lead to the government having to pay out more in benefits to pensioners. It?s a short-term plan to raise money
to plug the gap left by the budget deficit as the pension scheme has been shown to be healthy.
School, college and university staff are increasingly frustrated that after months of talks with government ministers, a petition to Downing Street and sending thousands of letters and emails to MPs, the government is refusing to budge on its proposals to make us pay more, work longer and get less in retirement. We believe stronger protests are necessary.
The education of our students in the long-term is paramount. We ask for your support for our campaign over the coming months.
Defending our pensions to protect education
Brian Lightman,
ASCL
Mary Bousted,

I can't find the email now will have a look in my junk. I definitely didn't get anything in the post asking me to vote though

I can't believe one of my threads has got over 100 posts

Seriously, good luck to you. I am also in the public sector, and have just been made redundant...

found it - look like the think I'm not in TPS so didn't ballot me

Only 6th formers in in my school. I am not in NUT or ATL so I will be in teaching my own class - Yr 12. I will also be marking books, exams and writing reports.

where would the money go that pays the teachers pensions go as well as their wages for the day - as you need to pay into your pension unless you want to have a break in service?

A strike is supposed to be inconvienient -that is the whole purpose to cause a distruption

Feenie - I wasn't giving advice, just stating my opinion.

The Government will reveal later that the cost of UK military operations in Libya is £250m so far, according to sources in Whitehall.

I support the teachers whole heartedly. I'm not a teacher, but my Mum was for 30 years. I get it.

I received an email last week from the school (large primary 300+). It listed the classes that would NOT be taught on 30 June. Basically the info was if your child's class wasn't on the list they would go to school as normal.

I don't support the teachers or the public sector workers, although i do sympathise. Anyone who says that the teachers pay their own pension from their contributions doesn't understand how it works. In fact the plan is to change ti to that system, which is inferior to wqhat they currently have.

Its not nice but the rest of us went through this pain in the late '90s (and felt the full effect of it in 2008), so its unfair to ask private sector workers to give public sector workers something that they cannot afford for themselves. However, if final salary schemes were still routinely used in the private sector then it would be more than fair not to demand that the teachers switch too.

I think this is a bit like the miners strike all over again.

By when are the schools supposed to inform the parents of strikes? If we haven't heard anything with a week to go, does that mean that our children are expected to attend school as normal next Thursday?