What do you think of this?

To name a few, he touches on hard work, borrowing, risk taking.

I was talking to Bindi about this today. It’s not the first time I’ve thought or talked about it and I still don’t have an answer! Maybe you can help me?

I would say the most important jobs/roles in society fall into three categories. These are health, education and welfare.

Health encompasses nursing, doctors and so on.

Education includes teachers, learning assistants and more.

Welfare is about carers, staff who work in ‘homes’ or in a hospice and social workers.

If you think about it, the jobs are highly pressurised, they involve a lot of paperwork, they are bureaucratic and poorly paid! I mustn’t forget to mention that staff are accountable to the public as well!

Why then are they so poorly paid?

How does it make sense?

How can other jobs pay so much more?

I was talking to Suraj about this and he said it’s because most people are interested in making money. Thus if you make money for someone, you get paid more. That’s why so many other jobs are better paid.

Those of us in health, welfare and education don’t do that. We only look after what is the most precious thing to most people, at one point in their life or another. Usually ‘this thing’ becomes even more precious when they lose it or feel as if it’s slipping away. I guess this refers more directly to health and welfare. With regards to children, most people will tell you that their most precious possession is their children.

If you take all this into account why are people in these professions paid so little?

Yes, consultants are paid more because they have studied for so long and they know so much but do they really deserve to be paid so much more? Who does the daily caring for the patients? Remember this includes lifting them, helping them go to the toilet, changing bandages, administering medication, saving lives, counselling and more! One of my good friends is a nurse and she has a poor social life! Why? Well…she works unsociable hours and when she’s not working, she’s recovering from her shifts and her lack of sleep. Nurses aren’t in a job where they can say ‘I’m going to go and take my break now’. They have to make sure that patients wont be left vulnerable and without supervision. They often don’t finish when they’re supposed to and they don’t get paid for this so called ‘overtime’.

Yes head teachers are paid so much because they are responsible for the school but who teaches the children everyday, cares for them, checks for neglect, signs of abuse, helps them socialise, encourage them to be independent and so much more? Teachers are on the front line. Sometimes we play the role of being the parent of the parents, parent to the child, social worker, counsellor, child protection, academic educator, report writer and so much more. We don’t clock off at 3:15 p.m. and start at 9 a.m. We work before and after school hours. We work during the holidays completing assessments, marking, planning etc. Unlike being in an office, we often have to plan going to the toilet because we can’t just leave the class because we need to go. Some schools now have a sign in Reception saying that the staff have the right to come to work without being abused. This seems to be a situation that a lot of key workers are finding themselves in. What a shame!

I’m not sure if those who run ‘homes’ and those who manage social workers are paid lots more but generally they do not have enough funding, enough staff or enough power to do what they need to do. Of course when this reality is in the face of the public; there’s uproar, outrage and demands are made but the issue and the risks are not new! They were there before, it’s just that something horrid happened, got well publicised and suddenly everyone’s interested! How does that work?

Where does more money need to be placed?

Where does funding really need to go?

Any ideas?

Do you agree or disagree? Please do share your thoughts with me. It’s something I’ve struggled to understand for a very long time!

I guess the title poses a funny question.

Well is it ever going to go away? No! For one reason or another; men and women like to have sex with strangers. Maybe they do not find their partner attractive any more, perhaps they want to be more or less controlling or they do not have anyone to be intimate with.

Who cares? It happens, there is a demand and there are people willing to meet the need! So should there be a move to help legalise it? Organise it? Protect it?

There are so many men who beat, rape and kill prostitutes and if you do not think it matters; I urge you to think again! They are people and they have human rights whatever their occupation.

So how can we stop the beatings, rapes and murders? Should we follow what they have done in other parts of Europe? Why not legalise, organise and protect prostitution? The system would ensure that the prostitutes have regular health checks which will prevent the spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI’s). It would mean that an area/areas are organised to provide this service and that it remains constant, rather than, an underground service that keeps moving from place to place as they are discovered or people complain. It would avoid becoming a ‘seedy’ area which nobody wants to walk through. Also the people that work there would be protected so that they are not abused!

Do you have any arguments against this?

Agreeing does not mean that you condone the occupation or the people who use the service; but it DOES mean that you are realistic, humane and logical.

I don’t get it! Many members of this union keep everything going! They support children in schools, clean the parks, empty the bins, they open, close and maintain public buildings which WE use and so much more!

Most of these workers can’t afford to strike and lose 2 days worth of pay but how can they not? Their pay is so low they have to do something! Right? The wage increase is so minimal yet they do so much! The consultants, sales men and women and marketing staff, for example, do so little for us! So little for YOU! But then why are they are paid so much?

When will we wake up and pay those who we can’t do without, those who nurture the future a fair wage? How frustrated are you when your refuse isn’t collected? How hard is it knowing that your child needs support in class but the learning assistant who helps them so much isn’t it, for whatever reason. We need these members of staff! The same argument applies to NUT members who went on strike recently! We work so hard. Education and society has changed so much yet is this taken into account when our wages are debated?

A few members of staff in the school I work in are striking tomorrow and Thursday. They have been torn apart with the guilt of knowing the children, the school, the teachers need them. They have debated how they can manage without an income for those two days. They’ve tried to be objective and fair when thinking about how quickly they’d jump up to receive a pay increase but if they don’t do anything to get it how can that be fair? They’ve also considered how fair it would be to be in a union and use them when they need them but not support the Union when they need the help of their members. They’ve also discussed how the managerial staff may replace them with other members of staff, in which case, is the strike pointless or not?

It’s funny! I am a teacher and a NUT Rep. Thus I am aware that all schools, reps and members have been advised that we should be expected to do anything over and above our usual duties. We should not be asked to do the duties of a member who’s on strike. For this reason, when we striked recently, the managerial staff did not employ supply teachers to take their place, nor did they ask learning assistants or any ‘out of class’ staff to take our place. As a result the children in a few classes were told that they could not come in on the day of the strike but the rest of the school ran as usual.

For some reason it’s different this time. There are some children who need one to one support. Due to the strike they will be unsupported. So you’d think that the managerial staff would follow what they did when the teachers striked right? They’d say those children couldn’t come to school until Friday. No. I’ve been asked to abandon my timetable, I can do this because I’m out of class, and I’ve been asked to cover a child with special needs all day tomorrow.

Of course this goes against everything I mentioned above! Anyway I guess this is a side issue but it also highlights how managerial staff try and get around these inconvenient strikes.

The point of the strike is to disrupt. To show how needed the members of these unions are. To highlight the fact that we need a fair wage!

What do you think? Can you see where I’m coming from? Do you think it’s fair? Any ideas? Alternatives?

The text below is taken from the UNISON website.

UNISON members in local government in England, Northern Ireland and Wales have voted to take strike action on 16 and 17 July over the employers’ insulting pay “offer”.

They have been offered a pay rise of just 2.45%. Take inflation into account and it’s a pay CUT.

Add in 10 years of below-inflation pay rises and average household bills rocketing £1,300 in the last year alone, it’s no wonder we think this is the last straw.

It doesn’t add up.

We need YOU and all your workmates to join the action. This will send a clear message to your employers that they must improve their offer and show you the respect you deserve.