Sick Boy
Super Moderator
Enjoy!I retire in exactly 4 weeks. That will stop me
Sick Boy
Super Moderator
Do they still sell truffles there?
Earlsdon_Skyblue1
Well-Known Member
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
This is a bit of a strange argument. I started teaching on one salary, and increased it through promotion and taking on extra responsibilities. My pay will pretty much be this now unless I move into senior management.
Teachers as a general rule are very reluctant strikers, because we feel we are letting children down by doing it. But things have got so bad in the sector that it has become our only option to get education the funding it deserves. As for me personally, I am looking to drop my salary even if just temporarily in order to get my work life balance back.
D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
Oh yeah, I forgot who I was arguing with. Sorry.
olderskyblue
Well-Known Member
Me too. I never stop learning
Astute
Well-Known Member
Of course. Sorry I forgot that I am always supposed to be wrong.
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Deleted member 5849
Guest
Fair play for seeing it that way - there's a socialist in you yet
And whisper it but there are even some evil capitalists I can respect for how hard they've worked to get what they've got, and not begrudge them in the slightest what they earn even if it's more than me - why should I?
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.
Astute
Well-Known Member
Sure am planning to
Get my residency card in about 8 weeks whenIam actually 55. Then all about Italy, Spain and France with a motorhome. Just a mess with bureaucracy until then.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
If you want to hear from the union itself on why this is happening then here is useful.
To be clear, over 300,000 teachers were balloted by post during a postal strike and general postal disruption, and had to meet 50% turnout under these conditions to strike. To do that in a profession that is generally strike averse tells you how serious things have got. Yes this is a dispute on pay, it's also a dispute on education funding.
fernandopartridge
Well-Known Member
No supposed to be about it
Astute
Well-Known Member
Which is my point that I am glad you understand. We're all supposed to be in this together.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
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.
Astute
Well-Known Member
Education funding?
Just like the NHS. Funded enough but the money goes to the wrong places. Those giving the effort not paid enough and those stealing a living are forgotten about.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
I fail to see how teachers striking somehow means less solidarity with other workers. Anyway, I hope you have a long and enjoyable retirement.
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
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.
Astute
Well-Known Member
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.
Astute
Well-Known Member
Which is my point.
We have those who are stealing a living. Then we have those who need and deserve more. But those who have governed for the last 20 years or more have got it so wrong and continue to do so.
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
That’s through promotion though. Hell have gone up the pay scales and likely got a TLR. First five years of my private sector work my pay has gone up 250% mostly by job switching.
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
What’s the aim here? Some kind of worker oppression Olympics? Has anyone said shift workers don’t deserve better?
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
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.
OffenhamSkyBlue
Well-Known Member
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.
OffenhamSkyBlue
Well-Known Member
To move on from discussions about the [deserved] size of Brighton's pay packet for a moment, which doesn't annoy me in the slightest, to something that does ...
The murder of this 16 year old in Warrington (noting that two 15 year olds have been charged and will appear in court today) is being "bigged-up" in the media as being investigated by the police as a possible "hate crime".
This phrase really bugs me, not just about this case but whenever it is used.. WHAT ON EARTH could be more hateful than taking someone's life?
I think it is valid that the motivation for the crime should be investigated and reported to the court, but it should be used at the sentencing stage, escalating the potential sentence upon conviction. It was HIDEOUS what happened to this young person, but the fact that they were a trans girl is being made so much of in the media, and taking away from the fact that they were a human being.
The murder of this 16 year old in Warrington (noting that two 15 year olds have been charged and will appear in court today) is being "bigged-up" in the media as being investigated by the police as a possible "hate crime".
This phrase really bugs me, not just about this case but whenever it is used.. WHAT ON EARTH could be more hateful than taking someone's life?
I think it is valid that the motivation for the crime should be investigated and reported to the court, but it should be used at the sentencing stage, escalating the potential sentence upon conviction. It was HIDEOUS what happened to this young person, but the fact that they were a trans girl is being made so much of in the media, and taking away from the fact that they were a human being.
Ian1779
Well-Known Member
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.
RIP Brianna
Astute
Well-Known Member
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 saved every penny I could for many years. No exotic holidays. Always drove older cars. My present one is 15 years old. The wife's car is 16 years old. My phone will do until it stops working. And another big help is the house we're presently buying. In the UK it would be about 300k in the cheapest areas yet only €88,000. One room alone is 68m2.
OffenhamSkyBlue
Well-Known Member
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.
It's part of the media's attempt to make people feel that something is being done on a higher level because she was trans, i think, and the constant "thirst for knowledge" that has arisen in the age of social media.
Astute
Well-Known Member
After nearly 30 years my pay, including promotions, has gone up just 160%. But fair play to you.
D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
And my pay's gone down in actual terms (not even adjusting for inflation) since 2008.
But that's totally irrelevant really.
D
Deleted member 5849
Guest
I'll add rhyme time at the library into it then!
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Deleted member 5849
Guest
I've worked out now that the wheels on the bus go round and round, thank you very much.
skybluejelly
Well-Known Member
Not if the drivers are on strike
Brighton Sky Blue
Well-Known Member
And that annoys me
shmmeee
Well-Known Member
I don’t think it’s typical, just saying you can cherry pick to show anything. Public sector wages on the whole haven’t kept pace with private sector.
I don’t really agree - I haven’t seen anything from the media coverage to suggest this crime was somehow worse than any other child murder. (Some trans people online have even claimed this story has had LESS coverage than other similar crimes - I don’t know if that’s true) Plus I think it’s only natural for people to want to know the details (and therefore the possible motivations) of a shocking case like this one. Just as people seeing reports of a terror attack etc want to know the reasons why.
I also think that when it comes to a group that is so disproportionately exposed to violence and discrimination as the trans community, many trans people actively want there to be more discussion of that, in the hope that people will have a better of understanding of the problems they face. Even if that’s not a factor in this case - and it would be wrong to be too definitive when speculating about it - it’s still a reality in the world we live in.