Teachers Strike - From Each According to their Means

The teachers have voted to strike against the way that they say Government has unfairly handled the economic crisis. The demand that the burden of the crisis should be shared by all sectors of society "according to their means" may be unprecedented as grounds for strike action. Will this strike influence the coming budget, or will Government carry on regardless ?

Quote :

06/03/2009 - 19:40:26
The members of teacher unions the ASTI, INTO and TUI have voted to take industrial action, up to and including strike action, over the Government’s handling of the economic crisis.

In a joint statement tonight, the general secretaries of the three unions said the decision had been a difficult one for teachers who as well as facing difficult economic circumstances are well aware of the impact of the economic crisis on the communities in which they live and work.

The statement said the results showed clearly the anger of teachers at Government’s inequitable handling of the crisis.

Teachers want government to re-enter discussions to address the economic crisis with the ICTU on the basis that the burden must be shared by all sectors of society according to their means

The Irish Federation of University Teachers is expected to begin balloting its members on industrial action next week.

Do you not think it is just a populist demand in order that they don't receive the harsh reception from the public which often accompanies strikes by teachers? The teaching sector is a funny one given the huge discrepancy of security between permanent and non permanent teaching staff. I wonder whether this demand of sharing the burden would extend to a lowering of salaries across the profession in order that more of the younger members of profession can ensure a permanent position.

johnfás wrote:

Do you not think it is just a populist demand in order that they don't receive the harsh reception from the public which often accompanies strikes by teachers? The teaching sector is a funny one given the huge discrepancy of security between permanent and non permanent teaching staff. I wonder whether this demand of sharing the burden would extend to a lowering of salaries across the profession in order that more of the younger members of profession can ensure a permanent position.

I'd say its half and half.

Some sectors of workers are saying that no jobs should go and that everyone should take cuts and / short time instead.

There will be lots of happy kids if the teachers go on short time!!! Maybe the Law Society will put my exams on half time too! :P

They'd take twice as long then. Careful what you wish for!

Ah no, it could be a year of jubilee... like people with their driving licenses in the 1980s.

Jubilee? Well if Germany pays my mortgage I'll reconsider Lisbon for them. And a pony for the kids. One each.

johnfás wrote:

Ah no, it could be a year of jubilee... like people with their driving licenses in the 1980s.

I don't envy you still having exams to face. I well remember cycling to mine half wishing I'd get knocked down on the way in. 

Do we have anyone here who dodged the driving test in the 1980s? My mother did... never lives it down.

I was in the ASTI for the last teachers' strike and it was pretty horrible. Oral exams coming up in the next few weeks, LC only tennish weeks away - nightmare scenario.

That was 2001 wasn't it? It was the year of my Junior Cert and my brother's Leaving cert!

The work to rule was utterly disingenuous - we were all in school but there were no students.

However it was instructive. Most people might be surprised to hear that we didn't spend those days drinking tea in the staffroom. We had student-free days to catch up on admin, piles of correcting (because we kept them busy while they were out!), and had loads of small-group meetings. It was a very useful time for getting work done that it just isn't possible to do during the normal working week.

On the other hand, the effects of the strike were devastating. It did untold damage to the profession and how it's perceived and there were thousands of students who were badly hit by the atmosphere, the loss of teaching time and a loss of faith in their teachers and the system. I felt it was important that teachers' extra work in supervision and supervision was recognised and rewarded but was very, very unhappy that the situation deteriorated so badly. It was wrongly handled.

There were also plenty of teachers who quietly acted out of kilter with their union and made pretty good provisions for their students working around the strike action. Kind of demonstrates that alot of members of an organisation often fundamentally disagree with the course being taken by that organisation.

Apart from the extra work that was done while they were in school, the piles of extra homework when the strike was over, I know that I had weeks of extra classes with my leaving and junior certs. Most of us were in the same boat.

Buying into the hype that their exam prospects were utterly ruined as a result of the industrial action didn't help students either. The resentment from them and their parents has really only started to fade in recent years - the prospect of further industrial action will undo any goodwill that has been built up in the interim, I fear.

Kate P wrote:

Apart from the extra work that was done while they were in school, the piles of extra homework when the strike was over, I know that I had weeks of extra classes with my leaving and junior certs. Most of us were in the same boat.

Buying into the hype that their exam prospects were utterly ruined as a result of the industrial action didn't help students either. The resentment from them and their parents has really only started to fade in recent years - the prospect of further industrial action will undo any goodwill that has been built up in the interim, I fear.

That's the opposite of what most of the parents I have spoken to are saying - we don't want them wrecking our children's education and their shcools to pay off bankers debts. What the government seem not to realise, in their incompetence and arrogance, is that it is OUR goodwill they need to appeal to - not those who are arguing that we should revert to servility like obedient little boys and girls. A tough, uncompromising strike is exactly what is needed - right across the board - to bring this government to its senses and to force it to start governing in interests of the majority - not just the idiotic elite and their simpering supporters.

Teacher strikes tend to get very messy, parent's being required to take holiday days from work etc to look after their children.

It is quite accurate that there was huge resentment against the teaching profession during the 2001 strike. Things got so out of hand at that time that secondary students began to organise themselves nationally to have a combined voice against the teacher's actions. It saw the creation of the Union of Secondary Students, which was in itself a bit of a nonsense, but they organised mass walkouts by students against the teacher strike and it did have an impact on public opinion.

Teacher strikes rarely end with the public on the side of the teachers.

Kate P wrote:

Apart from the extra work that was done while they were in school, the piles of extra homework when the strike was over, I know that I had weeks of extra classes with my leaving and junior certs. Most of us were in the same boat.

Buying into the hype that their exam prospects were utterly ruined as a result of the industrial action didn't help students either. The resentment from them and their parents has really only started to fade in recent years - the prospect of further industrial action will undo any goodwill that has been built up in the interim, I fear.

A strike by the teachers or any public service workers would be a bad move for them right now, there will be little public support & no Government movement at the end of it.

Aragon wrote:

A tough, uncompromising strike is exactly what is needed

What do you want it to achieve? An end to the pension levy? This is what the potential strike is about at the end of the day and the truth is the pension levy is only the start of what we're going to have to do to stabilise this ship. We are broke, the basket is empty, the clock cannot be put back, the egg cannot be unscrambled.

johnfás wrote:

Aragon wrote:

A tough, uncompromising strike is exactly what is needed

What do you want it to achieve? An end to the pension levy? This is what the potential strike is about at the end of the day and the truth is the pension levy is only the start of what we're going to have to do to stabilise this ship. We are broke, the basket is empty, the clock cannot be put back, the egg cannot be unscrambled.

We were so broke that we gave billions of our money to thieves, liars and gamblers - much more than is needed to run the country. It should all be taken back. Oil and gas resources should be nationalised. The 450 billion in guarantees to banks should be stopped - nothing and noone is ever going to convince those who are carrying the burden of all this naked theft is going to be given a green light - and neither should they.

Aragon wrote:

johnfás wrote:

Aragon wrote:

A tough, uncompromising strike is exactly what is needed

What do you want it to achieve? An end to the pension levy? This is what the potential strike is about at the end of the day and the truth is the pension levy is only the start of what we're going to have to do to stabilise this ship. We are broke, the basket is empty, the clock cannot be put back, the egg cannot be unscrambled.

We were so broke that we gave billions of our money to thieves, liars and gamblers - much more than is needed to run the country. It should all be taken back. Oil and gas resources should be nationalised. The 450 billion in guarantees to banks should be stopped - nothing and noone is ever going to convince those who are carrying the burden of all this naked theft is going to be given a green light - and neither should they.

Not a penny has been given to anyone yet and even when all that has been committed is given, that would amount to about 13% of what it takes to run the country for one year or about seven weeks Government spend.