26 Mar 2012 11:35 PM:
Westport- whilst I mainly agree with your sentiments, especially as you loose pay when someone else strikes- it is their right and they have paid into something expecting a certain pension. Can I just add that whilst it appears to us normal mortals that teachers only work 189 odd days a year most work numerous evenings - on parents evening, open evenings and just showing new people about their schools evenings, Summer and Christmas fayres and plays, plus residential trips. They also work endlessly on marking and planning and I know no-one ever wants to hear this but in general they work hard in much of their own time. Many are on annual contracts at the whim of Local Authority funding.
Many Colleges observe the same annual leave restriction as other organisations and so staff are in throughout all the holidays unless they use their annual leave quota. They also have to deal with the youth of the nation- I rest my case!.
My ex partner taught A Levels part time at a College and then moved to a comprehensive's 6th form and I genuinely thought 'I don't want that job'. Planning , marking, dealing with the confrontational and difficult youth of today and being required for evening after evening and loosing weekends to marking work (all of which is standardised so they can't fluke it).
In the School the holidays at least made up for having to do evenings, fete's, residentials and all the lost weekends and all for an annual contract. Some are on termly contracts. Then there's Ofsted.
It's only those who have worked full time under these restriction for many many years that are due these 'big' pensions and thats not everyone by any means..
(Can I add that Colleges seem to expect even more 'unpaid' hours- there's no flexi time for evenings and covering for absent staff can't go on your teaching quota until the they are absent for at least 3 days)
So sorry if I sound sympathetic but I saw it all first hand.
Thread:
general strike
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