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[News] School strikes



dsr-burnley

Well-known member
Aug 15, 2014
2,194
I think you maybe over stating the damage and disruption to children's prospects for missing a couple of days of school. BBC bitesize is available if there's nothing else they can do. šŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø
How much disruption it is causing, is arguable. All I'm saying is that by not telling the head teachers who is coming and who isn't, they are doing their best to make the disruption as serious as they can.
 




Cotton Socks

Skint Supporter
Feb 20, 2017
1,732
But there are some who still regard teachers as slaves, who should never never ever ever do anything that may progress the flowering of a young mind.

At the end of the day, most of us are slaves. The more we are seen a slaves, the more it is that the only weapon we have in the Social Contract (RIP) is to withdraw our labour.

Best wishes to all of those striking.
Pi is far more useful to learn rather than compound interest on a credit card. :unsure: Pi is only ever used for loft extensions (I'm generalising as the only thing I can think of), but ironically you're not going to be able to afford a loft extension if you're someone that has to teach kids Pi. You'll earn more by enticing them with an overdraft at 18 when they've had their education focused on Pi rather than compound interest. They should make sociology mandatory rather than pe.
 


Cotton Socks

Skint Supporter
Feb 20, 2017
1,732
How much disruption it is causing, is arguable. All I'm saying is that by not telling the head teachers who is coming and who isn't, they are doing their best to make the disruption as serious as they can.
If you're ill and are a teacher who couldn't go to work that day, you'd be concerned that 28 kids would be pretty much unsupervised as teaching assistants are non existent these days, being ill means potentially putting 56 kids together in one class. Teaching assistants were a way to get the correct child/adult ratio on the cheap. A TA doesn't need to have a degree or any particular training, it's done 'in house'. The budget has been cut so much that TA's are unaffordable. It's been all over the news that there was a possibility for strike action on particular dates. To be fair I didn't need a back up plan as jnr is big enough to care for them self. How much notice do you think is acceptable?
 


The Clamp

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jan 11, 2016
24,536
West is BEST
The concept that teachers should endure food banks and fuel poverty so that your poor, long suffering children donā€™t miss one day of school, that they are somehow letting your children down? It is a lie. A lie peddled by the criminals that have installed themselves in Westminster and claim to be our government.

Donā€™t fall for it again.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,597
The Fatherland
Someone I know very well.

An issue where the union took little, or maybe even no interest whatsoever, rumbled on for some months. When push came to shove and the issue went to the top, the employer folded saying that if they had been made aware earlier of what was happening they would have sorted out the problem far, far sooner.

Unable to say more, but union reps can and do offer differing levels of support to their members.
So your strong statement about unions is based on one anecdotal story. Fair enough.
 




Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,597
The Fatherland
i dont know why people keep wanting to drag this up - did you want no track and trace, no PPE?
I wanted track and trace for sure. What I didnā€™t want was 38bn wasted on three attempts at an app when the UK could have bought one off the shelf for a fraction on the price.

And the numerous PPE scams and failures are so well reported thereā€™s no need for me to say any more.
 


vegster

Sanity Clause
May 5, 2008
27,894
The concept that teachers should endure food banks and fuel poverty so that your poor, long suffering children donā€™t miss one day of school, that they are somehow letting your children down? It is a lie. A lie peddled by the criminals that have installed themselves in Westminster and claim to be our government.

Donā€™t fall for it again.
Would be a lovely idea to remove all the support that MP'S enjoy while elected. Let's tell them they can't have a secretary, Spads or unpaid interns doing their leg work...remove the subsidies for travel, the attendance money and the subsidised bars and restaurants in the Commons..

That would be a marvellous introduction to the real world for many of them.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,597
The Fatherland




beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,312
Someone I know very well.

An issue where the union took little, or maybe even no interest whatsoever, rumbled on for some months. When push came to shove and the issue went to the top, the employer folded saying that if they had been made aware earlier of what was happening they would have sorted out the problem far, far sooner.

Unable to say more, but union reps can and do offer differing levels of support to their members.
other half has dealt with various unions as HR in public sector, sadly not uncommon at the low levels.
 


beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,312
I wanted track and trace for sure. What I didnā€™t want was 38bn wasted on three attempts at an app when the UK could have bought one off the shelf for a fraction on the price.

And the numerous PPE scams and failures are so well reported thereā€™s no need for me to say any more.
i'd have through you'd know better... the test and trace budget was not blown on an app, it was the programme of thousands of people employed in call centres, thousands of pop up testing centres, millions of Covid lateral flow tests dished out for free and PCR tests processed. just because there was a fanfare around an app at the start, people still stick that in their mind (how very successful that idea was sold?).
while there was unfortunaly chancers out there taking advantage, most PPE was delivered and used as required. inflating that to 100% of the budget means the politicans ignore the complaint. its just becomes a meme on social media.

(and as i recall they did go with an off the shelf app in the end, from swiss company.)
 
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Pogue Mahone

Well-known member
Apr 30, 2011
10,745
i'd have through you'd know better... the test and trace budget was not blown on an app, it was the programme of thousands of people employed in call centres, thousands of pop up testing centres, millions of Covid lateral flow tests dished out for free and PCR tests processed. just because there was a fanfare around an app at the start, people still stick that in their mind.
Billions were wasted on Track and Trace. It was incredibly badly planned and managed. And it failed in its aim to slow down transmission of the virus.

 




beorhthelm

A. Virgo, Football Genius
Jul 21, 2003
35,312
Billions were wasted on Track and Trace. It was incredibly badly planned and managed. And it failed in its aim to slow down transmission of the virus.

i'm certain there was waste, there usually is, it failed its original objectives which then morphed to general testing. it just wasn't all on one app, and the public demanded action.
 


Thunder Bolt

Silly old bat
I wanted track and trace for sure. What I didnā€™t want was 38bn wasted on three attempts at an app when the UK could have bought one off the shelf for a fraction on the price.

And the numerous PPE scams and failures are so well reported thereā€™s no need for me to say any more.
Ireland had an app that worked well, and offered it to Britain who turned it down.
Yes, in any project, there is some wastage, but this was criminal.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,597
The Fatherland
i'm certain there was waste, there usually is, it failed its original objectives which then morphed to general testing. it just wasn't all on one app, and the public demanded action.
I have no idea how much of the 38bn was wasted, directly and indirectly, on three attempts to build the app. But this is a straw man argument. You said ā€œdid we not want T&Tā€. My answer is yes, but I didnā€™t want that amount of money wasted. Other nations built or bought apps and set up track and trace easily. The UK failed and spent 38bn, 20% of the NHS budget, in the process. This isnā€™t me saying this, itā€™s the commons investigation committee.
 




Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,597
The Fatherland
Ireland had an app that worked well, and offered it to Britain who turned it down.
Yes, in any project, there is some wastage, but this was criminal.
Other countries did as well. And Micheal Gove famously said, as he twisted Brexit into the argument, ā€œthere is nothing an independent UK cannot doā€ All the while more bodies were piling up.
 




Kinky Gerbil

Im The Scatman
NSC Patron
Jul 16, 2003
57,908
hassocks
1m seconds = 11.6 days

1bn seconds = 31.7 years

6bn seconds = 190 years

37bn seconds = 1,173 years

Ā£6bn was lost in the economy on a single day of Liz Truss. During COVID, this government spent Ā£37bn on Track and Trace. And a FURTHER Ā£37bn on PPE.

But obviously the reason this country is in its current state is because of teachers, nurses, train drivers, etc wanting a pay increase to match their living costs.

37 billion was mainly spent on "free" tests.

By the end of free tests it was over a billion a month for them
 


dsr-burnley

Well-known member
Aug 15, 2014
2,194
The concept that teachers should endure food banks and fuel poverty so that your poor, long suffering children donā€™t miss one day of school, that they are somehow letting your children down? It is a lie. A lie peddled by the criminals that have installed themselves in Westminster and claim to be our government.

Donā€™t fall for it again.
But why is it acceptable that people who don't work for the government should not only get pay rises below inflation, but should also have to pay more taxes to ensure that government employees live better lives than them?
 




chickens

Intending to survive this time of asset strippers
Oct 12, 2022
1,854
But why is it acceptable that people who don't work for the government should not only get pay rises below inflation, but should also have to pay more taxes to ensure that government employees live better lives than them?

Actually, public sector pay rises can help drive private sector pay rises., as companies risk losing staff to the public sector if their package isnā€™t competitive. At present itā€™s the other way round, private sector pay rises (so private sector employees can cope with inflation) are driving the wage demands of public sector employees who no longer get anything like the benefits packages of a generation ago.

At the end of the day, both public and private sector employees are in need of real-terms pay rises. The private sector has been doing better than the public sector at raising wages so far, the public sector has lagged behind.

Additionally, I understand (though am not 100% on this) that the latest Civil Service pension schemes canā€™t be taken without significant penalty before state pension retirement age (67 or 68) - so while still fairly decent, the Civil Service is no longer a good option for those wishing to retire before State Pension age.
 




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