Pickets, protests and no pupils!

I'll keep it short and sweet tonight, because it's been a short and sweet kind of day. Really it's zipped by in the blink of an eye and I've actually been fairly productive.

If you're reading this and living in the UK then you'll be aware that there's been a lot of public sector union strikes today. As I work in the public sector (education) it means that my school was affected. Many, many teachers and support staff decided to strike, creating picket lines outside of the school before heading off into central London to march against Government plans for pension scheme cuts. Put simply, today's strike action was brought on because they want people to work longer for no extra cash to pay into their retirement fund. This is scary because if I was a 12 year old the idea of being taught by someone who's 67 is frightening. Surely you can't still be in touch with young people at that age?

Anyhoo, many people went on strike, meaning that the school was unable to open to pupils, but was still open to non-striking staff, like myself, to come in and work.

This. Was. Bliss.

Obviously it can't be a very good sign if I prefer going to work when the kids aren't there, and it's kind of in my job description to work with young people and educate them, but fuck me, I managed to get sooooo much done! I think I've actually managed to plan a couple of half decent lessons, rather than cobble something together at the last minute. Generally I like to think I have fairly good bull-shitting skills when it comes to being put on the spot, but often the kids see through it and can tell when parts of the lesson are improvised and a bit lastminute.com. Now though, I'm prepared! Photocopying 'n' all!

Hopefully that'll make tomorrow a little bit easier before the end of the week comes and normal, rushed service will resume next Monday.

Oh and if you're wondering why I didn't strike, even though I do empathise with the union's cause, it's because I'm a) not in a union, which is probably bad and b) I don't earn enough to be paying into a fund. If there was something to sign in support though, I would. Not least because I know how demanding teaching is and the thought of doing that until you're nearly 70 is an exhausting idea, but also because David Cameron called the protests a 'wet squib'.

Now there's no need to get personal Mr Cameron and who in their right mind uses the word 'squib' these days? Could you sound any more upper-middle class and pretentious? Could you reaffirm anymore to your public that you're not actually thinking through the whole picture here because when you reach 67 you'll still be well catered for, resting up, and enjoying your overly comfortable retirement nest egg, while others are still having to go and slog their guts out to try to earn a half-decent pension and replace the money you're squandering so they may be able to enjoy those meagre last few golden years with some level of dignity.

So then, do you really think that when two million public sector workers march through the capital it's a good idea to provoke them by saying there will be no change? That these strikes won't be effective? I only hope that all of those union members working in the public sector have the fight and the backbone to see this through, and if it comes down to the wire of unions calling for workers to down tools for a longer period of time to show their worth and determination - reminiscent of the Thatcher strikes - then so be it; I'd support them to see this through.

It wasn't my intention to get all political, mainly because I don't always fully understand cause and reason enough to comment on political matters, but I think that the UK is in such a bad state at the moment - along with the rest of Europe - that something is going to have to break; something will snap and we're seeing it happen all over the world. We saw it happen in the summer riots and we saw more of it today albeit on a more peaceful scale, thankfully.

Uneasy and daunting times ahead.

RoseC -x-