Teachers demand 10% pay rise in the middle of a recession

[itszamora]

I am not sure that teachers do feel that they have been dealt a bad hand.

But they as any employee need to ask for pay rises if they feel it deserving and hope to put a reasonable argument to try to secure that rise.

I think thats fair, however I think the timing is ill judged and bound to fail, but maybe they are legally obliged to negotiate at this time, I am not sure.

You as a journalist enjoy an income considerably more than a teacher, which is a very good wage and something I am sure you deserve, ultimately the market would dictate your worth and you have no need to justify it.

However the union may feel that their members can offer a similar working ethos, qualification and literacy skills as yourself and would therefore demand some financial parity with you and other journalists.

Similar to trueblue I'm a freelance journalist however I'm just starting out and I can assure you that teachers start on considerably more than we do, plus the benefits of holiday, job security and so on. I think that's why for me this demand from the NUT seems to be taking the piss rather.

 

[BigGully]

Similar to trueblue I'm a freelance journalist however I'm just starting out and I can assure you that teachers start on considerably more than we do, plus the benefits of holiday, job security and so on. I think that's why for me this demand from the NUT seems to be taking the piss rather.

Teachers start at university and need to stay there for 4 years ( or 3 and a year's training ) to get the necessary qualification, so they start with no income, probably some debt.

Journalist's, I would suspect can have various ways of starting out in journalism, not always an unpaid 4 year stint at Uni.

I am guessing that you are likely to start earning earlier and it seem's if competent, you get an income far above any classroom teacher.

More power to you.

However, I wonder how many years it has taken 'trueblue' to get paid significantly more than teachers.

My arithmetic makes it you have enjoyed more regular generous increments in your salary than what the NUT are currently demanding for Teacher's.

 

[itszamora]

Teachers start at university and need to stay there for 4 years ( or 3 and a year's training ) to get the necessary qualification, so they start with no income, probably some debt.

Journalist's, I would suspect can have various ways of starting out in journalism, not always an unpaid 4 year stint at Uni.

I am guessing that you are likely to start earning earlier and it seem's if competent, you get an income far above any classroom teacher.

More power to you.

However, I wonder how many years it has taken 'trueblue' to get paid significantly more than teachers.

My arithmetic makes it you have enjoyed more regular generous increments in your salary than what the NUT are currently demanding for Teacher's.

Actually generally speaking these days in journalism you won't get anywhere without a recognised journalistic qualification. That means either a straight three year journalism degree, or (my route) a degree in anything followed by a one-year postgrad course. The Government fund people doing PGCEs, there is none of that available for trainee journalists. I will be very surprised if I'm earning more than all of my teacher friends in twenty years' time, assuming I'm still a journalist!

 

[bullshit detector]

Divide and rule folks, divide and rule.
Instead of getting angry about teachers' pay (who do possibly the most important job in the country apart from maybe the medical profession) get angry about the fact that people get paid 20 times more than any teacher for sitting at computer screens dealing in MONEY.

This poxy world has gone mad.

 

[trueblue]

However the union may feel that their members can offer a similar working ethos, qualification and literacy skills as yourself and would therefore demand some financial parity with you and other journalists.

That's fair enough, but they would then be expected to do the same unsocial hours without complaint, take shorter holidays and lose the fringe benefits. The point is that once you add in pensions, job security, union protection, restricted working hours, days holiday per year etc, the disparity between wages in teaching and many private sector careers is a lot less dramatic.

As for journalists not needing to be so well qualified, most would do three years at university, before taking a post-graduate course. As far as I know, there's no special financial help available, but admittedly it's a long time since I did my degree in central and local government policymaking.

As you wanted to know, it took me 12 years to get to 30k (in terms of working hours, probably about 16 years, based on a 40 hour week). Now the rewards, thankfully, are considerably better - but beyond the end of next month (currently as far as my bookings extend) who knows?

Still, if it all goes tits up, I can always become a teacher

 

[coventrygull]

Divide and rule folks, divide and rule.
Instead of getting angry about teachers' pay (who do possibly the most important job in the country apart from maybe the medical profession) get angry about the fact that people get paid 20 times more than any teacher for sitting at computer screens dealing in MONEY.

This poxy world has gone mad.

With you on that one mate.