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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

UK Teachers Ready to Strike over Pensions


The National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) have voted to strike over pensions cuts, according to the Teacher Solidarity blog. The two unions, which cover the majority of teachers in England and Wales, will go on strike at the end of June over increased pension contributions and proposals to delay the retirement age to 68.

Teachers from NUT are also opposing the increasing privatization of schools and the excessive teacher workloads.

2 comments:

  1. I value teachers but they dont realise how lucky they are and that taxpayers are funding them.
    They work only half the year and get all the school holidays off but get paid ALL 52 weeks of the year.
    They get paid much more than workers in the private sector
    They have jobs for life as it is almost impossible to sack an underperforming teacher.
    They have goldplated fat cat pensions worth between half a million to 1.5million pounds which is paid for by people like us paying tax who will get no pension.
    They get 6 months full paid sick leave whenever they want it.
    It is time for their nice little gravy train to end as it has for all of us normal working people

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  2. Taxpayers fund the wealthy and their corporations to much greater degree than teachers through subsidies and tax breaks and through warfare and police that protect their private property. This is true in most countries with public education.

    In the U.S. teachers do NOT work only half the year. Their contracts are for 9 months and they only get paid for those 9 months. They do not get any paid holidays or vacation pay either. They can choose to have their pay spread out over the year for their convenience, but they do NOT get paid for summer or winter breaks. Many teachers cannot afford to live on the teacher salaries alone and choose to take on another job during the summer. Some even work evenings during the school year as tutors or at community colleges.

    Teachers actually get paid much less than private sector workers who have similar levels of education in the U.S. I am a scientist by training and took a 40% pay cut to leave UCSF and teach in San Francisco.

    Regardless of the differences between UK and US teachers, you are barking up the wrong tree. You probably are getting screwed at work. Most of us are. But the solution is not to take what little some workers have away from them. The only group that is getting fat on other peoples' backs are the wealthy and they are the only ones who can afford and deserve to give up some (or ALL!) of their wealth to balance things out for the rest of us.

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