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Oct 2013
5:31pm, 1 Oct 2013
25,893 posts
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JenL
I think the best way to show support for a group of people on strike with whom you feel sympathy is to organise local support so that their withdrawal of labour causes less disruption and minimises loss of public support because people were less inconvenienced. I just got fed up of hearing people say "I see their point but this is just such a nuisance for me". Many people's politics wavers the minute they're asked to do without something or put in some extra effort even for a day and that also grinds my gears. There's a bigger picture here and withdrawing sympathy with the teachers because your children couldn't go to school plays right into the hands of the government, who are really responsible for the conditions that have led to this dispute in the first place. It's just not good enough to say "I really support the teachers/ambulance drivers/nurses/bin men or whatever as long as nothing they do ever affects me adversely". In my opinion anyway 
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Oct 2013
5:33pm, 1 Oct 2013
2,854 posts
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Wobbling
Unions can't just call a strike, they have to be voted for, by the union members.
I don't know if the strike will persuade Gove to change his mind, but it has raised the profile of Teachers' issues, which can only be a good thing. Too many people think teaching a cushy option, but it's not. It's not something I could do and I have a great deal of respect for teachers putting up with what they do and getting paid so much less than their peers.
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Oct 2013
8:18pm, 1 Oct 2013
455 posts
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kjtindall
If it was really the principle, a strike on an in service day would make the point and minimise the inconvenience surely....
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Oct 2013
9:15pm, 1 Oct 2013
1,204 posts
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Carpathius
Hmm. I don't think strikes are the best way to go about protesting against changes to pay and conditions or pensions or whatever the issue in dispute is. The biggest effect of strike action is usually felt by those who can't change the issue anyway (at least not directly) and they are less likely to sympathise with the issue at hand.
Organise a big march, do it on a Saturday through the middle of London or Manchester or Leeds or lots through local towns. Tell people about it, bang drums, shout.
People in general are more likely to have sympathy and support for this sort of thing and even more importantly have the option of joining in. Strike action can only be taken by those employed in the profession whereas marches and protests can be joined by parents and even pupils giving a louder voice overall.
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Oct 2013
8:18am, 2 Oct 2013
13,348 posts
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*jono*
I did have to have a little chickle listening to Gove talk about the unions ideology - so the tories haven't got one then!
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Oct 2013
8:44am, 2 Oct 2013
137 posts
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magnumpti
Phew, I almost thought I might be turning into a Tory but it seems that other normal people see my point of view!
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Oct 2013
10:28am, 2 Oct 2013
2,459 posts
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Hohum
If you fight for something you have a chance (it might be slim) if you don't fight you are defo going to lose.
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Oct 2013
10:33am, 2 Oct 2013
2,460 posts
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Hohum
Anyway, another thing that grinds my feckiing gears is the Christmas shite in the shops already (earliest I have seen 22nd August). FFS leave it till after Remembrance Sunday.
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Oct 2013
10:40am, 2 Oct 2013
1,110 posts
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philbo
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Oct 2013
11:14am, 2 Oct 2013
1,210 posts
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Carpathius
^^^^^ Yes. Oh yes.
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