G’day everyone,
So I wanted to share a good news story because it seems like everything on the internet is bad news, and for every good news story you hear, there are more bad news stories about union busting, shutting down recently unionized shops, and USA government blocks union action.
Anyways I’ve digressed. I work as a teacher which in this country is state run not district run. That means every teacher in the state (aside from a few private schools) is effectively employed by the same government body and allows for greater collective bargaining and mobility opportunities. During the start of the pandemic the government asked us all to forgo our regular yearly pay rises as they were paying heaps of people to stay home when sick etc etc. The vast majority of us accepted because it was the right thing to do.
Then at the end of 2020/start of 2021 when it was announced that teachers, doctors, and all other government employees took home no raises as requested but all the MPs (congress in American) got raises people were livid. But the union is all it’s wisdom got us 1 extra day off (last day of school) as a thank you from the government. We already have 165 days off (12 weeks paid holidays) a year what do I need with 1 extra day.. I want my pay rise.
Anyways there are nearly 70,000 workers represented by the union, and recently another state union went on strike. As a result our union threatened the same. After some negotiation the government made an excellent offer;
-4% raise per year guaranteed however if inflation/cost of living rises more than 4% it will be pro rated to those indexes
-work load reduction and wellbeing increased through numerous offers
- increased resourcing to better fund schools including mental health resources for students and staff
-various other great offers and benefits I won’t get into here to keep this post shorter
Ultimately my union came through with an excellent deal that will take me to among the top paid teachers in the country, and world.
Moral of the story… UNIONS WORK!