Part-Time Secondary Teachers Survey

hobbsd

I'm looking to see if the part-time staff in out inner-city disadvantaged staff are representative of other part-time teachers nationwide?

Here's our situation as many of you will be aware.

Part-time teachers tend to work harder than their permanent counterparts. By this I mean they are more involved in extra-curricular activities, are more energetic/enthusiastic about the job and get the short straw in terms of class/subject choice etc. This is not an attack on permanent teachers at all, most of them did what we are now doing when they began their career.

What the public have not been made aware of is that part-time teachers have little or no job security. Some have been working in schools for TEN years without being made permanent. Due to the vicious cuts in the budget last October, many of these now face being made unemployed. Are there any private sector workers who could be let go from their job after ten years service with NO entitlement to a redundancy payment?

We contribute greatly to a pension we may never get to enjoy. This new levy will mean that new teachers can expect to put between 250K-500K over their career (if lucky enough to have one?) into their pension contributions. Wait, thats just the extra levy, not the existing pension payments that teachers are OBLIGED to pay into (including spouse and child contributions). And its not been actuarily adjusted!

Part-time teachers contribute greatly to the running of schools in this country. Yet, we rarely hear mention of them from our disastrous union (in my case the ASTI) when "teachers" are berated in the media about their security of tenure etc. What the teachers in my school are proposing is that part-time teachers unite in sending a message to our unions.

Proposals so far include leaving the union? Organising stoppages by part-time teachers to demonstrate just how difficult it would be for schools to manage without us? Whats for sure is that we need to send this message before many of us lose our jobs in September i.e. in the next few weeks.

If you agree that part-time teachers should unite to demand better representation by our unions and in demanding fairer conditions, then please put your school and number of years teaching in this tread...

Then, organise yourselves in your school and get a petition sent, via your shop steward, to your union demanding immediate action or stop subscribing your money to them. ASTI workers by the way are unaffected by the pension levy as if that wasn't blatantly obvious by their limp efforts to protect us, that pay their wages!

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Well Done, excellent post.

I have been in one school as a part time teacher for 4 years. I am also an ASTI member. My weekly wage has decreased by approx. €150 a week due to cuts in supervision and pension levy so I now earn less than €500 a week and don't know what contract I will get next year.

I know I a m lucky to still have a job, but my husband worked in the public sector and is now unemployed. People seem to think that people in public sector don't marry people in the private sector so unemployment in the private sector does not affect us.

I am so sick and tired of listening to the media talking about teachers and their permanent jobs etc..

I agree that the ASTI are useless at helping part time teachers but am reluctant to leave, simply because I am part time and have no job security. As contracts have become so complicated and permanent jobs are becoming obsolete I feel that I need to be a Union Member to ensure I get my CID contract when it is due and that I am not manipulated out of a permanent job.

oliviah

I agree - very good post.

The impression I get from ASTI is that they know they needn't bother fighting our corner as we are virtually powerless to force any change as we are so scared for our jobs and where the next pay cheque is going to come from.

I don't have a contract at all, only a sub right now, so if I said anything I know that there would be someone else standing in front of my classes next week. All the part timers feel the same too, it's all about keeping the head down, putting in the extra hours and hoping for another contract for September.

I think we need to have leadership coming from the union on this matter, as no one wants to be labelled as the troublemaker, in our school anyway. It's a sad situation when people feel they can't stand up for themselves, but bread needs to be put on the table and all that.

Coolio

Completely agree with you. I am so annoyed with the unions. They look after permanent/contract teachers well but if you are below those you don't count.

The de-facto stance of unions is to protect the teacher in all situations which I feel that this is to the detriment of our profession if that teacher does not deserve defending.

So basically we are paying subs to a union so that they can ensure poor/incompetent teachers hold onto their jobs, preventing part-timers taking positions. Unions, of course, should be pro-teacher but they should also be confident enough to allow those in the profession that are diminishing it, to get disciplined/removed and not block these moves at every opportunity.

In alot of schools, part-timers are ignored by other teachers, asked to leave when the principal has to discuss something in the staffroom, expected to drive into school in the hope of getting classes and if there aren't any, to return home empty-handed and out of pocket!

Teachers refusing to call in early if they are sick, not leaving work for their classes, making official union complaints of harassment to the school if they are asked how long they would be out for?! The mind boggles.

They have been allowed call the shots for far too long and we are left in a situation where any time a thread is started here about teachers, posters rant on about how bad/drunk/useless their teacher was. Well our unions are preventing the proper clean-up of our profession and thus preventing the ordinary decent hard-working teacher from getting the respect they deserve.

Maybe there's a need for a new union!

rainbowtrout

Coolio wrote: »

In alot of schools, part-timers are ignored by other teachers, asked to leave when the principal has to discuss something in the staffroom, expected to drive into school in the hope of getting classes and if there aren't any, to return home empty-handed and out of pocket!

Not to detract from your other arguments but I think you're equating part-time teachers with contracts with substitutes. Part-timers have their own hours/contracts. Subs do not unless they are in for a maternity leave or something.

Coolio

Accept your correction regarding part-timers versus substitutes.

However, it was not only a part-time contracted person who was asked to leave but another who was on TWT contract!

I am a sub but have other colleagues in school on 5-6 hours a week that rely on sub work to get a decent wage and the difficulties they face, I feel, are similar to what I face.

rainbowtrout

That's pretty bad alright. In my school at the moment the vice principal has his wife in doing subbing hours. Granted she is a qualified teacher who is no longer teaching since they moved over from england, but there are a few teachers on 12-14 hours a week and in that same situation. If there are a few teachers out, she always gets a full nine classes and the rest just pick up what is left over which would be only a couple of classes. There are a lot of unhappy campers as a result.

He was even so insensitive to say with him taking a cut because of the pension levy etc that he had to get the missus to earn a few bob :mad:

gaeilgegrinds

Rainbow T that is so wrong, honestly feel the union could help there. Hours supposed to be offered to PRPT teachers first.

ArseBurger

hobbsd wrote: »

Are there any private sector workers who could be let go from their job after ten years service with NO entitlement to a redundancy payment?

Yes, plenty. Part time workers and people on renewed short term contracts.

Love the sense of entitlement by the way.

rainbowtrout

gaeilgegrinds wrote: »

Rainbow T that is so wrong, honestly feel the union could help there. Hours supposed to be offered to PRPT teachers first.

I know, but because we are going to lose so many teachers next year people don't want to get on the wrong side of management, i know that's not the way it should be but that's the reality, the other side of it is most of the permanent staff in the school are older and it's all the younger staff are PRPT so don't feel they have the security at the moment to fight their case.

we're keeping a close eye on it.