You're not a SCAB, are ya?!

[Funt Solo]

Woolly - if a fireman strikes (as they did recently), then someone might burn to death.  If a nurse strikes, then patients may die.  

I still respect their right to strike if they feel (as a democratic union) that they're being mistreated by their employer.

I don't want to jeapordise the learning process for any of my students.  The only reason I do the job I do is because I love teaching.  Without the students, I'm nothing.

But we've been backed into a corner by the employers - and the only way we can get them to listen is by stopping the assessment process.

The NUS supports my union in this action, because they understand that the employers don't always have their best interests at heart - because a university is a profitable business - not a charity or a public service (despite government funding).  

The longer the employers stay away from the negotiating table, the higher the chance that students will suffer (by not having their work graded).  My union doesn't want that, I don't want that and students don't want that - and the employers can stop it any time they like by sticking to a promise they made to spend some percentage of extra funding (provided by the government to set off the impact of top-up fees) on teaching staff's wages (which, in real terms, haven't risen in over a decade, whilst the upper echelons of managment continue to expand in number and grant themselves very generous pay rises).

To not strike, to not stand up for our rights now, would lead to worse conditions for teaching staff, which would make the job less attractive, demotivate already over-worked staff and ultimately cause future generations of students to receive a poorer education.

By the way - the strike longmanshort is referring to is something different altogether and I know nothing about it.

One last thing:  you're right - it's not my decision to make.  It was a democratic decision made by my union.  Actually, I spoilt my vote - for reasons I won't go into here.  But the union voted to strike - and as a member of that union I feel beholden go along with the democratic decision.

[Queen Firey-Bou]

oh well they never teach the little-un anything anyway, the school buses never run & theyre permenantly on holiday anyway.

turns out my fire union finallly won the right for retained firefighters to buy into the pension scheme, yeah if i can come up with nearly ?4K to retro buy into it, i'll get a pension of around ?400 per annum. whoop de fucking doo.

meanwhile go grass roots workers go !

[Matt Timson]

Isn't it somewhere in Europe where striking transport workers still go to work, but fail to charge people for using the transport system?

Now that's my idea of a well thought out plan of action.  The strikers are inconveniencing all the right people, while retaining the support of all the people they'd normally piss off who, quite frankly, haven't done anythng to be on the receiving end of strike action.

I'd have a lot more sympathy for strikers if their actions only affected the people capable of doing something...

[Funt Solo]

Great idea, Jones!  The equivalent for fire-fighters would be to...uhm...well, I'm sure you'll come up with something.  In the meantime, nurses could...well, er...

Nevermind - let's try something easier.  Teachers could...well, they could...god, they're teachers - you'd think they could come up with something.  I mean, it's not as if they've already investigated all the options and are taking the only action they can, is it?

I'm so dumb - I'll just sit here and wait for Jones to tell me how I could protest in a more intelligent manner.

[Queen Firey-Bou]

brilliant !  

so teachers could maybe teach the kids but not bother with any paperwork?

council chaps could grit the roads but not bother with gritting the councillors drives like they usually do...

we fireys could put out fires but not bother with filling out TRN60, 61(a), MIM1a , FIN51 and the TRN29's ?.... nah doesnt really hit them does it ?

[Bico]

'if a fireman strikes (as they did recently), then someone might burn to death. If a nurse strikes, then patients may die.'

This is exactly the kind of emotional blackmail that management are not one bit ashamed of trotting out to the press or union reps to justify getting their own way - blaming frontline staff who put in all the work, while enjoying the anonymity of faceless middle-management themselves.  A strike ballot effectively dilutes and shares blame in much the same way as management hides behind the edicts of rules derived from centralised decision-making bodies, and it's down to the individual to decide whether or not they want to join the strike action, but if a nurse abandons his or her position, I'd assume they didn't do so lightly.  I've known a few nurses, and it's not what you'd call a low-stress job in the first place.  Doctors aren't exactly the most balanced of people, either, if half the stories I've heard are true.
Yes, it is terrible that it comes to a strike in the first place, but unless you were there at the begining, decrying the treatment of staff by management, you don't really have any right to crow because suddenly something that might affect you personally happens.  If you didn't give a toss beforehand and just took invaluable public services for granted, then tough shit.

[Natsan]

Thanks,Professor Bear,I think you're right on the money.

I can't believe I pop in today to find myself getting it in the neck for something that is a)a decision that had nothing to do with me and b)will mean that I lose a day's pay too!

So before anyone else continues whinging at me for being an evil so-and-so for going on strike and forcing them to spend some extra time with their kids,here are some facts;

1-This strike is a national one called by Unison and unoffically supported by most of the other unions.It's to protest at cuts to the local government pension scheme for support staff (a pension which I have and pay into every month)You can find out more about it in the link I've posted at the bottom of this message.

2-I am not in a union. Whilst the proposed cuts will affect me I did not have the right to vote on the strike.

3-Our school has a heavy union presence.Because so many support staff are Unison members and thus will be on strike this affect the running of the school. Therefore for Health and Safety reasons the headmaster has been forced to close the school for the day. All of us,Unison members or not,will lose a day's pay.

If I was a Unison member,would I have voted to support the strike? Probably yes.
Support staff in schools are paid much worse than teachers are(even NQTs) but are vital to the running of schools,as is shown by the fact that our school is having to close for the day.Pension payments are a reasonable chunk of our paychecks every month.Are we not entitled to a pension when we retire that is at least a little above benefits level?

I know pensions are a major worry for alot of people at the moment,and the decision to strike was not taken lightly and never is.

Link: http://www.unison.org.uk/pensions/faq.asp" target="_blank">Strike FAQ

[Matt Timson]

Gosh- what can I say in the face of such biting sarcasm?  Obviously I must apologise immediately for applauding what I thought was a pretty good idea that had been used elsewhere.  I must also instantly apologise for not thinking of ways to make the same idea applicable to teachers and firefighters everywhere (and whereas I don't have the slightest idea of how you'd achieve something like this as a teacher or firefighter, I'm willing to bet it'd take a lot more effort and determination than simply not turning up for work).

I don't seem to recall saying anywhere that people shouldn't strike either- only that I'd have a lot more sympathy if it only affected the right people.  What's wrong with that, exactly?

I am so sorry to have irked you, Mr Funt, Sir- but as always, it's an absolute pleasure to be reminded of exactly why it is that I think you're such a king sized nob in the first place.

[House of Usher]

As far as I'm aware, the two disputes going on at the moment are:

1. Public sector workers striking against having their retirement age raised from 60 to 65 years; and

2. University staff, having had one strike day, refusing to set exam papers or assess students' work because we're demanding a long-overdue pay increase and management are obstructing pay negotiations.

I support both union actions, although I'm not hopeful about the outcome of either. If I was a public sector worker and I had taken a job where the terms of employment offered retirement at 60, but my employer had decided to change the terms of my employment after offering me the job, I would justly feel miffed about it. If I was a public sector worker I'd be striking too; it's in the interests of justice that they should keep the deal they accepted in good faith, which their employers have reneged on. However, most workers who aren't even certain of retiring they they themselves will be able to retire at 65 will have little sympathy.

In the case of university staff, it's quite right that they should take they action they have to get the pay deal they deserve. For my own part, I went on strike for one day. As to not marking students' work, I'm not involved in marking anyway, so my part in the industrial action is already over. Yes, I'm indifferent to the outcome of the industrial action I voted for. I'm on a temporary contract that expires this autumn, and I don't know if I'll even have a job after that, so whether my union wins my colleagues a pay rise or not might be beside the point. A pay increase is no good to you if you haven't got a job. Aside from the pay claim looking after the long term future of my profession, its main beneficiaries stand to be those permanent lecturing staff aged 50 and over who have one eye on their pay packet and the other on their final salary pension.

In any industrial dispute you have to stand up for your rights and not let employers take from you what is rightfully yours. I support the action my union is taking even though I look increasingly unlikely to benefit from it even if the outcome is successful. It's the principle that's at stake over and above any concerns of self-interest.

[House of Usher]

Aaargh!! cursed cut-and-paste.

That sentence that reads: "However, most workers who aren't even certain of retiring they they themselves will be able to retire at 65 will have little sympathy."

Should read: Most workers who aren't even certain that they themselves will be able to retire at 65 will have little sympathy.

[thrillpowerseeker]

Whether you agree with the action being taken or not..if you are a paid up member of a union you should either accept the majority decision or resign..the whole point of a union is to act as one co-ordinated body in deals with management etc..you know the score when you sign the forms.

TPS (never letting anyone grind this bastard down)

[House of Usher]

's true.