Enjoy!I retire in exactly 4 weeks. That will stop me
Do they still sell truffles there?
Oh yeah, I forgot who I was arguing with. Sorry.
Me too. I never stop learning
Of course. Sorry I forgot that I am always supposed to be wrong.
Fair play for seeing it that way - there's a socialist in you yet
I'm finding the whole thing absurd... and then I realised why
Sure am planning to
If you want to hear from the union itself on why this is happening then here is useful.
No supposed to be about it
No denying it's a good pay and a very stable job. But why it struggles to attract and retain anyone despite that is quite revealing. In the last 5 years I have also had 3 colleagues drop dead, one on the job, and all from heart attacks. That's been the biggest slap in the face for me personally.I'm finding the whole thing absurd... and then I realised why
Anyway, it's a small distinction, but of course £44k is a good salary that many would dream of. That doesn't stop people trying to increase it because they feel their profession is being devalued over time - to borrow an Italiaism, it's not a race to the bottom. I don't understand in the slightest the focus on your individual job - for context, UCU are striking yes about pay, yes about pensions... but also because of the conditions of hourly paid lecturers. It's collective action, innit, not the professors deciding they earn a lot, so therefore who cares about those who have no job security, no pension, and terrible working conditions.
Education funding?
I fail to see how teachers striking somehow means less solidarity with other workers. Anyway, I hope you have a long and enjoyable retirement.
I completely agree. I'd then refer you to all of the multi academy trust executives and staff, who didn't exist before academisation, but are now taking in 6 figure salaries despite offering nothing to the front line service. Get rid of them and it means more money for the day to day operations of the school.
Try being a shift worker. We know we live many years less. But because we don't have a title like school teacher we don't get considered. Lost the last colleague just a couple of months ago to a heart attack. His son watched me giving first aid for over 30 minutes until the paramedics arrived. He was only 51. Slap in the face? I wish it was as simple.
Which is my point.
We're all on the same side at the end of the day. I could go on about you being able to retire at 55 while I'll probably be working till I'm 70, but what good would it do? None.
Not in the public sector though, Wingy. The graph below is from the BBC website, and indicates current public sector pay rises running at 4.2% p.a. But the purple line between Jan 2020 and July 2021 of 3.5 to 5% is still nowhere near reflective of the increases seen by university staff (and it's not just professors who are in UCU, but professional services too). My take-home went up by the massive sum of 2% between April 2019 and April 2021, when also taking into account the criminal dismantling of the pension scheme, thanks to a skewed valuation of the scheme's reserves that was made at the start of the pandemic. Many UCU members in their 30s, for example, will see a reduction in the amount in their pension pot of 35% over the course of their retirement, while still having to pay higher contributions. Yes, professors are paid a very healthy wage, but there are a lot of people employed in universities who are struggling.
I guess the key factor here that should be established - is the motivation to murder this poor girl based on decisions she made about herself that no other person has the right to question or judge her for.
Your earnings are easily high enough to retire early. You will have a pension that most can only dream of. But can you live a frugal life and save every penny and invest it?
I absolutely agree with you, Ian. My point is that we, the public, don't need to be told whether the police are investigating it as a hate crime or not. Investigate it as a killing and it should be for the court to decide whether it was motivated by what is defined as hate, and apply the appropriate tariff when sentencing.
After nearly 30 years my pay, including promotions, has gone up just 160%. But fair play to you.
And my pay's gone down in actual terms (not even adjusting for inflation) since 2008.
I'll add rhyme time at the library into it then!
I've worked out now that the wheels on the bus go round and round, thank you very much.
