I have very fond memories of teachers’ pay negotiations. My sixth form maths teacher was a staunch unionist and also very distractable. We could get a good half hour off calculus with a well-timed question like “What’s happening with the teachers pay negotiations?” Teachers didn’t go on strike when I was in High school, but more recently they did, and students took some really awesome support action. A Secondary teachers’ strike has a real potential to radicalise young workers.<\/p>\n
So I’m really excited that New Zealand secondary teachers have voted to go on strike in a couple of weeks. I’ll be there.<\/p>\n
* Has anyone else ever seen a video called Mom’s on Strike<\/a>? It featured a young Yeardley Smith (voice of Lisa). The basic plot-line is pretty self-explanatory. A woman left to do all the housework for her family goes on strike (with a picket line and everythign). Then the father left all the work to the two daughters, and they joined the picket-line too. We watched it in a Social Ed class in high school – which led to a pretty cool discussion about girls’ experiences with housework in their families (I went to an all girls school).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have very fond memories of teachers’ pay negotiations. My sixth form maths teacher was a staunch unionist and also very distractable. We could get a good half hour off calculus with a well-timed question like “What’s happening with the … Continue reading