Should Teachers Strike?
Wednesday the 30th November saw 67% of England’s 21,700 state schools completely closed due to industrial action.
By Cameron Wall
The strike action from millions of public sector workers was triggered after the government announced its plans for pension reforms that include; a £2.8 billion rise in contribution payments by 2014/2015; changing the retirement age to the same as the state pension age; and moving public sector workers from final salary schemes to career average schemes.
Public sector unions feel the government are proposing too many changes to the current system in one go, and therefore balloted to strike.
If no deal is reached by the 31st December, a deadline set by ministers, Unison has already presaged the public of walkouts in the late winter/early spring of next year.
The widespread view, although both sides are constantly in ‘behind the scenes’ talks with one another, is that an agreement between the two parties will not be reached.
On the day of the walkouts, school closures were not the only disruption we experienced. Refuse collections were interrupted; cities came to a standstill as thousands marched through streets in protest; some NHS workers refused to work just as some teachers did, causing interruption to medical appointments, non-urgent operations and house visits; some travel links were closed, including mainland/island ferry links; some cancellations to in-bound transatlantic flights to Heathrow; some demonstrators were arrested for breaching the peace of the protest; many parents of children whose schools had been closed had to take a day off work or organise daytime care at such short notice; and many Ambulance Services were “struggling”.
This poses the question; should teachers strike? Millions of school students across the UK will have missed a day due to the walkouts; is it really necessary?
The large majority of teachers will have balloted for strikes, therefore implying they support the strikes, and
By Cameron Wall
The strike action from millions of public sector workers was triggered after the government announced its plans for pension reforms that include; a £2.8 billion rise in contribution payments by 2014/2015; changing the retirement age to the same as the state pension age; and moving public sector workers from final salary schemes to career average schemes.
Public sector unions feel the government are proposing too many changes to the current system in one go, and therefore balloted to strike.
If no deal is reached by the 31st December, a deadline set by ministers, Unison has already presaged the public of walkouts in the late winter/early spring of next year.
The widespread view, although both sides are constantly in ‘behind the scenes’ talks with one another, is that an agreement between the two parties will not be reached.
On the day of the walkouts, school closures were not the only disruption we experienced. Refuse collections were interrupted; cities came to a standstill as thousands marched through streets in protest; some NHS workers refused to work just as some teachers did, causing interruption to medical appointments, non-urgent operations and house visits; some travel links were closed, including mainland/island ferry links; some cancellations to in-bound transatlantic flights to Heathrow; some demonstrators were arrested for breaching the peace of the protest; many parents of children whose schools had been closed had to take a day off work or organise daytime care at such short notice; and many Ambulance Services were “struggling”.
This poses the question; should teachers strike? Millions of school students across the UK will have missed a day due to the walkouts; is it really necessary?
The large majority of teachers will have balloted for strikes, therefore implying they support the strikes, and