What a shower of liars, hypocrites and propaganda merchants this coalition are...

...One minute they are saying to the public that they cannot understand why teachers are calling strikes when they are "negotiating with them" and in the next breath Francis Maude (the man who gave us the constant Mantra when the Pensions were being 'adjusted' of "We are all living longer, and that is a good thing" has just state that the Government are "not budging on pay" for Public sector workers.

 

In other news worlds round

 

They're not just negotiating over pay, that is just one aspect of this industrial action.

 

Pay is not the only factor that is involved, perhaps they're negotiating other aspects of employment?

Just saying like...

 

And this

https://medium.com/@tom_watson/22c3136de17c

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jul/10/high-court-snoopers-charter

 

I know it is not just about pay more about pensions "theft" and the fact that teachers are expected to work until they are 68! The Govt negotiations as they call them are merely about the timeframe for implementation and not about real changes. That is why teachers are so angry

 

Everybody is having to work longer before they get their pension, it is not exclusive to the public sector.

 

A 1% pay rise is tantamount to a pay cut. When MP's vote themselves a pay increase. Burn the lot down and install me in charge I say...

 

I know one thing if I'm ever in a fire I don't fancy a 68 year old fireman trying to get me out. Or looking at a nearly 70 year old teacher trying to control some hard faced teenagers.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

Yes but... Interesting statistic...

...a classroom teacher retiring at 60 life expectancy on average > 10 years in retirement. Teacher retiring at 65 life expectancy on average 18 months!!!! FACT! Teacher retiring a 68?? Besides who wants their kids taught by a 67 year old ?? Most kids see someone in their 40s as ancient. How can they 'relate' to a 60 something?

 

Re: Worse than that....

Just had 2 years of pay freeze + 1% this year + 1% next year and increased pensions contributions as well as an extra 3 years before getting it (8 for some women of a certain age) Bear in mind that in spite of what you read a) the teachers pension fund is NOT in deficit and had already made adjustments to ensure it would be affordable and b) Teachers DO pay a sizeable monthly contribution. It is an employee contributory pension scheme and NOT as Private sector propagandists keep saying " A Gold plated public sector pensionfunded by the taxpayer"

 

It's the same across board in the public sector - real term pay cuts year on year, increased pension contributions, removal of benefits and performance rewards. The net effect has been genuine hardship for all public sector workers. In addition there have been so many redundancies that those are still there have to carry a much broader burden.

 

I can see a huge effect at my school. When I got my job there was 112 other applicants. We have advertised for 7 jobs in the last 2 years (ranging from Deputy to class teacher) and we sometimes had zero applicants. The maximum we have had is 4 and when they are invited for interview no more than 1 has turned up each time (more agree to and then don't show or cancel in the morning). Our Ofsted rating is Good and we have amazing facilities so I'm not sure what would put people off of our school in particular.

Also, my pension contributions have gone up 2% since 2012, some people's have increased by as much as 6%. As well as this increase I will have to work until I am 68 (teaching PE is going to be fun at almost 70!). When you take into account inflation, the fact that we've only had a pay freeze for 4 years and are now only getting a 1% pay rise, our wage has fallen drastically.

 

Re: Yes but... Interesting statistic...

Is the life expectancy so short after retirement because teachers just go out and blow their massive pension pot on hard drugs and alcohol to block out all the bad memories... ?

 

Re: Yes but... Interesting statistic...

I think it's a more extreme case of what happens every holiday. I get ill at the start of the holidays when I finally relax a little. Then, just as I recover it's back to work. Only after you retire, the illness is worse and there's no recovering.

 

You will not get an argument from me on the pay rise issue but what the public sector have to remember is that the private sector being hit just as hard. One pay rise (1%) in four years is common place and we don’t have good pensions to look forwards to (I’m not saying that all public sector workers do either). I don't have any sympathy with the public sector and I think the strike is wrong but equally I think that the MPs implementing these decisions are so far removed from reality it makes anything they do difficult to stomach – one rule for us and one rule for everybody else does not sit well with me. I’ll say this though, and I will say it with confidence, that if Labour get back in at the next election they won’t have a magic wand to wave that will sort the pensions and retirement age problems out – these are now just economic facts of life.

 

Re: Yes but... Interesting statistic...

Francis Maude is a twa.t of the highest order. all he ever says is that private sector have it worse. ok then, the old tory 'lowest common denominator' it is then. it's like that horrific human being Gina Rinehart, who reckons that because some poor soul in africa would work for a dollar an hour, so should everyone else. beehatch.

it's like cutting off everyones' fingers, and if they moan, pointing (ha) out that some people have had their whole arm cut off.

in it together my stinky ring!!

 

Re: Yes but... Interesting statistic...

Why should teachers be allowed to retire any earlier than shop workers, builders, gardeners, driving instructors, office workers, etc, etc? And as I keep saying you're not alone with the pay cuts, it is the same in the private sector. Furthermore you may no longer get 'gold plated pensions' but your pensions are significantly better and cheaper than what most of us in the private sector get. This is not a race to the bottom, it is simple fact.

 

Re: Yes but... Interesting statistic...

The wife's a teacher. When she was set on, part of the salary/terms was a determined pension, contributions and retirement age.

All those have been altered to her detriment. Now the argument can run 'so what ? everyone's in the same boat ' And as a business owner it's an attractive one. However we aren't all in the same boat. MP's, the financiers, heads of the large multinationals and corporations, Council Chief Execs etc - they are all fine. The 'tough decisions' they make only affect the workers - public and private.

Getting back to teachers - they were set on under false pretences - chose a career path with certain assurances which have now ben wiped out.

And I can assure you mate, YOU would not want to be controlling 30 teenagers in a 'rough' school when you were 65 and older.

Look elsewhere for the architects of the current problems. It is not our lass trying to educate children to give them a better life.

 

MP's didn't vote themseleves a pay increase, it was recommended by an independent body and is automatically implemented - shame that the same doesn't apply though to the recommendations of independent bodies that assess public sector pay.
The law was amended a few years ago to prevent MP's voting on their own pay rises.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-25344188