Teachers strike

Ireland: Teachers strike for equal pay

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Europa/Irlanda/PrensaIE

A strike in secondary schools in Ireland has seen hundreds of establishments closed as teachers all over the country demand an end to pay discrimination.

Hundreds of second-level schools have closed today as members of the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI), affiliated to Education International, have gone on strike to demand an end to unequal pay. The union represents some 19,000 members in second-level schools, colleges of further and adult education, Institutes of Technology, and the Technological University of Dublin.

In October, TUI members voted by a margin of 92 per cent to eight per cent to engage in a campaign of industrial action, up to and including strike action, on this issue. In November, the union announced it would take strike action in February unless the matter was resolved.

Background: Two-tier pay scale

The background to today’s action lies in pay differentials for teachers employed after 1 February 2012. The largest discrimination occurs in the early years of a new teacher’s employment: new entrants to second level-teaching earn 14 per cent less on initial appointment and 10 per cent less over the first 10 years than they would have before the imposition of a two-tier pay system. This means that, within the first 10 years of a new entrant’s career, they earn over €50,000 less. Over a 40-year career, they earn over €110,000 less.

Discrimination has no place in our schools, according to the TUI. Paying colleagues different rates for carrying out the same work is morally wrong and has proved hugely detrimental to the morale of teachers and lecturers.

Speaking today, TUI President Seamus Lahart said: “We have exhausted every avenue open to us to bring this matter to resolution and have been left with no choice but to take strike action over the ongoing scandal of pay discrimination.”

TUI General Secretary John MacGabhann said the issue is fuelling a crisis in teacher supply and “we are bleeding a generation of talent away from teaching”. MacGabhann noted thatMinister for Education Joe McHugh had told union representatives at a conference last April that the issue would be addressed «promptly», but that he and the Government failed to do so.

Pay discrimination affects the whole education system

According to TUI, service to students has been affected, with the two-tier pay system fuelling an ever-deepening crisis of recruitment and retention of teachers in second-level schools. A survey of principals carried out by TUI last April found that, over the previous six months, 68 per cent of schools advertised positions to which no teacher applied. Forty-seven per cent of schools had unfilled teaching vacancies. In practical terms, this means that many schools are not able to offer pupils a full range of subjects and levels.

Fuente: https://www.ei-ie.org/en/detail/16618/ireland-teachers-strike-for-equal-pay

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Teachers strike puts 950,000 kids out of school. Here’s what’s keeping the Ford government and unions apart

Mike Crawley

By: Mike Crawley.

Classes are cancelled Thursday for nearly one million elementary school kids, as Ontario’s biggest teachers’ union holds its first provincewide strike.

This move by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) marks a significant ratcheting up of the dispute between Premier Doug Ford’s government and the four teachers’ unions.

ETFO’s plans for both provincewide and rotating strikes mean that every elementary school student in the public system stands to lose four days of school in a two-week period.

There are no signs that a deal is imminent for any of the major unions.

  • The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) hasn’t bargained with the province and school boards since mid-December.
  • The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) held one day of talks on Monday, but its president says there was «no real progress.» The union went ahead with a provincewide strike on Tuesday, cancelling school for some 500,000 Catholic school students.
  • ETFO was close to a deal last Friday after three days of bargaining, but union president Sam Hammond says the government introduced new proposals that scuttled the talks.

All in all, a bleak situation, whether you’re a teacher, a parent, a taxpayer or a member of the Ford government.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s government must work out separate deals with four different teachers’ unions. (Colin Cote-Paulette/CBC)

So where does it go from here?

It’s important to keep in mind that there are four separate sets of negotiations going on (the fourth, and by far the smallest, union represents teachers in the French-language school system). The Progressive Conservatives need to get deals with each union, and the only way to do that is one at a time, with the hope that each settlement provides momentum toward the next.

ETFO President Sam Hammond on why the union is ramping-up strike action:

Ontario elementary teachers union president explains ramped-up job action

This is one of the ways we’re taking a stand,’  says Sam Hammond, accusing the provincial government of not investing enough in education.  0:37

That’s why Ford and his team might come to regret that they missed the opportunity to get a deal with the ETFO last week.

Considering the different issues at play in each set of negotiations, and the proposals on the table from the province, a deal with the ETFO is arguably the easiest. That’s because the government’s controversial proposals for increased average class sizes and mandatory online courses only affect secondary schools, so they aren’t at issue in the talks with the elementary teachers’ union.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) held a province-wide strike on Tuesday, cancelling school for some 500,000 Catholic school students. (Michael Charles Cole/CBC)

Still, there remains plenty in dispute between the ETFO and the province, chiefly:

  • The government wants to limit the wage increase to one per cent annually, while the union wants a wage hike that meets the inflation rate.
  • The government wants to change a rule that requires principals to choose from only the most senior teachers in the supply pool when hiring for long-term and permanent teaching jobs.
  • The union says the government’s proposal for special education funding is less than half what was in its 2017 collective agreement.
  • The union wants enhancements to benefits. It’s not clear how big an ask this is, but government officials hint that it’s on the pricey side.

These gaps are not impossible for the two sides to bridge. But it’s hard to conceive how it actually happens.

The Ford government looks highly unlikely to offer more than a one per cent wage increase. Doing so would breach its own public sector wage-cap legislation, one of its hallmark policies, and set a precedent for the rest of the teachers’ unions, as well as every public sector contract negotiation to come.

ETFO’s plans for both province-wide and rotating strikes mean that every elementary school student in the public system stands to lose four days of school in a two-week period. (Kate Bueckert/CBC)

The teachers’ unions look unlikely to back down. They appear more united than in previous rounds of contentious bargaining, such as 2012 when OECTA agreed to a framework deal that ETFO and OSSTF rejected outright. Strike pay makes picketing days less financially painful for teachers, and the unions’ strike funds are deep enough to sustain further walkouts.

That leaves the prospect of growing disruption to people’s lives as elementary-age kids start losing school days to strikes more frequently.

But predicting how that disruption will affect public opinion is tricky. If parents repeatedly have to scramble for child care, will they blame the unions or the government?

So far, public opinion about the strikes seems to be correlated with people’s overall views of the Ford government. Those who support the teachers generally didn’t vote PC in the last election. Likewise, there’s no evidence that the government’s core supporters object to its handling of the negotiations.

Unless something shifts drastically in the next few days, strikes look set to continue at least until Queen’s Park resumes sitting on Feb. 18. After that, it becomes just a matter of time until the most likely scenario for ending the disputes unfolds: back-to-work legislation.

Source of the article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-teacher-strike-etfo-analysis-osstf-oecta-1.5453447

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Canada: Elementary teachers strike in several Ontario school boards, including Ottawa

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North America/ Canada/ 11.02.2020/ Source: globalnews.ca.

 

Elementary teachers hit the picket lines Wednesday at several school boards, including in Ottawa, as part of their rotating strikes that appear to have no end in sight.

The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) escalated its job action this week and is now targeting each board twice a week, including provincewide strikes set for Thursday and Feb. 11.

Union president Sam Hammond said Tuesday that the union was close to a deal with the government after three days of talks last week, but the province’s negotiators suddenly tabled new proposals at the 11th hour that ETFO couldn’t accept.

The two sides were close to an agreement on three or four key issues when the government changed course, Hammond said, and now there are no new bargaining dates scheduled.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said the government has put forward “reasonable proposals.”

ETFO members are off the job Wednesday in the Ottawa-Carleton, Kawartha Pine Ridge, Keewatin-Patricia, Lakehead, Near North, Penetanguishene Protestant Separate, Rainy River, Simcoe County and Upper Canada school boards, as well as the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre.

All four major teachers’ unions have been without contracts since Aug. 31, and bargaining is only ongoing with the union representing French teachers. High school teachers have not had talks with the government since Dec. 16, and English Catholic teachers had one day of negotiations Monday after talks broke off last month, but nothing further is scheduled.

All unions are engaged in some form of job action.

Source of the notice: https://globalnews.ca/news/6509138/elementary-teachers-strike-eastern-northern-ontario-ottawa-feb-5/
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The Denver teachers strike is over. They won.

Alexia Fernández Campbell

By: Alexia Fernández Campbell.

Denver teachers snagged $23 million in pay raises during a three-day strike.

Denver’s teachers may soon be returning to school.

More than 2,000 educators, who have been on strike since Monday, said they reached a tentative deal Thursday with the local school district.

Details are not yet available, but the deal includes an average 11.7 percent pay raise and annual cost of living increases, according to the school district and the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, a labor union representing more than 5,000 educators in Denver public schools. It will also include raises for school support staff. Bus drivers and cafeteria workers may also get a raise, but that’s not part of the official agreement with the teachers union.

It also addresses the teachers’ biggest concern: the need to overhaul the merit-pay system, which relies heavily on annual bonuses that fluctuate from year to year. The new system will place more emphasis on education and training when considering promotions, while keeping some bonuses in place.

Where will they find the $23 million to pay for this? The district agreed to cut back on administrative costs, and will eliminate about 150 positions in the school’s central office. Five-figure bonuses for senior school administrators will also come to an end.

The pact was reached after an all-night negotiation marathon between the union and school administrators. Henry Roman, president of the union, described it as a “historic” deal. “No longer will our students see their education disrupted because their teachers cannot afford to stay in their classrooms,” Roman said in a statement Monday morning.

Teachers did make some concessions, but the deal represents a remarkable win for Denver’s teachers, who have been picketing and rallying in the streets for the past two days, while school administrators struggled to keep classes on schedule. It’s also a sign of the overwhelming momentum teachers have on their side from months of widespread teacher strikes across the country over school funding cuts and low teacher pay.

Arbitrary bonuses and low pay

Teachers were most upset about Denver’s incentive pay system, which started more than a decade ago. The district pays bonuses based on teacher performance, and to encourage teachers to work in high-poverty schools.

But the union says the bonuses vary too much from year to year, creating financial instability for educators and their families. They also say it’s unclear how the district measures good performance and determines bonuses.

Instead, teachers wanted the district to lower bonuses and increase their base salaries, and to give them salaries based on education and training, like most school districts do.

Colorado teachers are among the lowest-paid in the country, earning an average of $46,155 in 2016 — ranking Colorado 46th in average teacher pay, according to the National Education Association. The state also spends about $2,500 less per student each year than the national average. The new deal would boost starting pay for teachers by 7 percent, but the average pay raise for all educators, nurses, and counselors will be 11.7 percent.

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The Denver Classroom Teachers Association voted to authorize a strike in January with support from 93 percent of its members. At the time, the two sides were about $8 million apart in reaching an agreement.

After authorizing a strike, the school district fought back. Officials asked Democratic Gov. Jared Polis to intervene, a legal move that delayed the strike as the state government weighed its options. But last week, the governor declined to take part in the dispute, which could have further delayed a strike by up to 180 days.

That wasn’t the first attempt to keep teachers from going on strike, though. Far from it.

Republican lawmakers tried to make striking illegal

In April, two Republican state legislators tried to shut down a potential teachers strike in Colorado with the threat of jail time.

The bill, introduced in the state Senate, prohibited districts from supporting a teachers strike and required schools to dock a teacher’s pay for each day they participate in a walkout. The teachers could also have faced up to six months in jail and a $500 daily fine if they violated a court order to stop striking.

The bill was a reaction to the teacher strikes sweeping red and purple states, including Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona, and Kentucky. Thousands of teachers in Colorado had joined the grassroots movement, holding rallies at the state capitol to demand a pay raise and more funding.

The bill failed. The strike happened — and it worked. Now, it looks like Denver teachers are going back to class.

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Source of the article: https://www.vox.com/2019/2/14/18224848/denver-teachers-strike-over-deal

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Denver teachers set to strike over better pay and working conditions

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North America/ Estados Unidos/ 11.02.2019/ By: Michael Sainato/ Source: www.theguardian.com.

Colorado city educators would be the latest in a broad wave of strikes and protests across the country battling for funding

School teachers in Denver, Colorado, are set to strike on Monday in the latest of a wave of actions that has swept the sector in the past year as educators battle for better pay and working conditions.

In Denver, teacher salaries have been steadily decreasing, leading to high turnover in the district. Teachers are forced to financially rely on bonuses and incentives beyond their control as part of a system called ProComp, first enacted in 2005.

“The bonuses and the amounts change every year. This has led to a problem where teacher salaries are different every year, and teachers, including myself, have been getting paid less every year,” said Michelle Garrison, a teacher at Farrell B Howell Early Childhood Education-8th grade school “You don’t ever get a paycheck that’s the same. It makes it hard for budgeting.”

Tanessa Wilson, a teacher at John H Amesse Elementary in Denver cited an example that teachers at her school missed out on a $1,500 bonus this year because students who receive free and reduced lunches decreased by 0.2%.

“These incentives are based on factors that are out of our control and we don’t think that is fair,” said Wilson.

Some 93% of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association membership voted to authorize a strike last month in the midst of new contract negotiations.

“The current model isn’t working for teachers, it isn’t working for students,” said Nik Arnoldi, a teacher at Escalante-Biggs Academy.

Denver Public Schools officials responded to the strike vote by formally requesting the state of Colorado to intervene to avoid a strike, but the state declined.

“To our teachers: We want and need you in our classrooms,” said Susana Cordova, district superintendent, in a statement. “We want to work to reach an agreement and we welcome support from Governor [Jared] Polis and his administration to bring us both back to negotiate.”

A spokesperson for the district added: “The school district is committed to keeping schools open and on normal schedules during a strike to support our students and their education.”

Teachers in Oakland and Sacramento in California are also potentially heading toward strikes in coming weeks as part of a broader wave of actions that occurred in several states and cities in 2018. Those strikes led to significant victories for teachers in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona, and, most recently, Los Angeles.

The American Federation of Teachers president, Randi Weingarten, said these walkouts are part of a broader trend of teachers combatting decade-long systematic funding problems in public education.

“No teacher wants to go on strike, but these actions are a direct response to the austerity politics that have left public schools low on the budget priority list in far too many states,” said Weingarten. “Our communities have made clear that they want safe, strong public schools, where kids can learn and where teachers can teach. When educators walk out, they’re doing it to get what their kids need, and they’re using the power of their collective voices to fight for the resources that are necessary to make schools better.”

The decline in teacher pay has been a significant public policy issue highlighted in these waves of strikes and protests. A report published by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in September 2018 found teacher pay has eroded since the mid-1990’s, with teacher pay penalties – the percentage by which public school teachers are paid less than comparable workers – growing to 18.7% in 2017.

Several states with the highest teacher pay penalties – Arizona, Virginia, Colorado, and Oklahoma – saw teacher walkouts and protests highlighting this increasing pay gap.

“Across the US, teachers and entire communities are saying enough is enough,” said Dr Sylvia Allegretto, co-chair of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at UC Berkeley and lead author of the EPI report.

In Sacramento, teachers are still fighting for resources they won in a November 2017 contract with the Sacramento Unified school district. A strike was narrowly avoided when the teachers union and city reached a contract deal days before a scheduled walkout, but the teachers union says the district has ignored the contract.

“The contract we accomplished with the district not only dealt with economic issues but found resources to lower class sizes, add counselors, early intervention, school nurses, a lot of what they were working on in Los Angeles,” said David Fisher, president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association.

“Since then it’s been an issue with the implementation,” he added.

South of Sacramento, teachers in Oakland, California, voted to authorize a strike amid their contract negotiations. The Oakland Education Association announced on 4 February that 95% of union members voted to authorize a strike, which could occur anytime after 15 February.

“We are fighting for smaller class sizes, living wage, stopping school closures and more student support,” said Quinn Ranahan, a math teacher at Roots International Academy middle school, one of 24 schools in the Oakland Unified school district that are being considered for closure over the next five years.

A spokesperson for the district said in an email: “We are eager to come to an agreement with our teachers union, one that pays teachers what they deserve and that allows them to thrive in the expensive Bay Area. That being said, we have serious budgetary limitations, so we need to come to an agreement that is also sustainable for the district..”

Source of the notice: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/10/teacher-strikes-denver-education-salaries-funding

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