Cool Ravings

Do you belong to a Union?  I did.  Several in fact over my lifetime.  Over the years the need for unions has diminished in my opinion.  Unions were a necessity before we had government labour laws to protect our citizens from unfair employers who sought to take advantage of us.  Today we have minimum wages set by government that increase with the cost of living.  Mind you it’s not a huge wage, but it’s more than the $2.30 I earned when I started in the workforce.

Today the average teacher earns $82,000.00 a year for a little over nine months work.  They get two weeks off for Seasonal Holidays at that politically incorrect time of year that was known as Christmas Holidays.  (We got three days).  They also get a week off for March Break.  (We got nothing).  Let’s not forget the two months off in the summer each year.  (We got two weeks to start and maxed out at four after years of service and not in the summer either).  I don’t know how many sick days they get or accumulate but I’m sure it’s way more than what my wife gets in the private sector.  I think she gets… oh, none.  If she’s sick she takes vacation days.  I’m not saying this is a great thing, but I am saying that Teachers in particular are well off compared to many of you in the private sector.

Let’s go back in time a bit shall we?  When I was a kid in school we had homework; we had textbooks, one for every subject; we had detention too (after school, not over recess).  But today, speaking of books, why is it our kids don’t have any?  Oh, the school says we can’t afford them.  We pay taxes for education right?  We  have fundraisers every other month during the school year, I sign cheques every September to the school for this and that and another thing, and yet we don’t have text books?  Where does our money go for education?  Certainly it doesn’t go to buy books.  Which to me would be the second expense after the building and furnishings.  Nope, no books.  But we have very well paid teachers.  I’m not even going to talk about the portables…. (aka port-a-potties).

I won’t begrudge anyone their right to collective bargaining, but holding my kid’s education at ransom isn’t going to get you any bonus points.  Okay, so you might have an argument for a union for teachers, but you won’t get me feeling sorry for them.  I was a union member in hospital work.  We couldn’t strike at all ever.  Essential services you know. Education is an essential service and you shouldn’t be able to go on strike either.  Or maybe you could strike only in July?

So please teachers, don’t send my kids home from school with your brainwashing propaganda of why you’re working to rule and why you need more sick days, and why you won’t let them play sports after school because you have to be working to rule etc etc.  It will only make me more angry when I hear over my dinner table about how “my teacher says they need more sick days because she gets sick teaching us because we always come to school with germs”.  By the way, Collective Bargaining is not on the school curriculum.  This behaviour is akin to a divorced couple using their children as pawns.  So stop it already!