Well here I am at 11:34 pm hearing that I am now part of the third strike I've been a part of in my 22 years on this earth. First one: high school teachers went on strike. Second: BF Goodrich where I was forced into a strike as a summer student. Third: The Ontario college teachers union! Wow! Is this a fluke or is this common for people?
This particular time around it isn't a huge deal for me because I could use a few more days off to catch up and work on projects. I also had a midterm scheduled for tomrrow which is now postponed. Oh well... as long as this doesn't turn out to be another BF Goodrich then I'll be fine.
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24 comments:
I think the best thing would be if the media really plays this down.
Everybody yawn and carry on. Ho-hum. Another strike. What's on T.V.?
I feel your pain Marc! Jennifer and Melissa are also in your boat! Hopefully it won't last long. My question is, who pays for another sememster if they go out so long that the students lose their semester?
Well apparently they've never lost a semester because of a strike in all of history so its not a big concern...hopefully...
The other thing to keep in mind here, as Marc well knows, is that not everyone on a picket line is necessarily happy to be there. Not only are the students "pawns" in this case, but also the less-militant teachers who are forced into the strike by a very powerful union executive. The only difference is that we can shop elsewhere for tires, but not for college instruction, unless you're willing to go out of province.
Unions are big business. Historically, they started out addressing a very real need (advocacy for truly oppressed workers)but have outlived their purpose in this society. Unions create conflict and discord, solve some of it, and leave enough for next time to keep them in business. What bugs me about unions is that we never get a choice about whether we join one or not. Isn't that a violation of my freedom of association? In this country of hair-trigger human rights litigation, how can I be forced to join an organization and have fees directly deducted from my pay cheque without any authentic choice?
Strike eh... by the looks of my school today you would never know. There are no teachers picketing outside of Mohawk college as of 11:30 this morning... weird. My main concern about this strike is I am in my graduating year, and I want to finish sooner then later. My program only runs until the end of March and then we go to placements. What happens to us if the strike lasts longer then 2 weeks?? Thats the only class time I have left. I have heard many rumours that we wil have to repeat the whole semester, or that they will use are midterm grades and call it a year and all sorts of mumbo jumbo.
The thing that urks me the most is who do the teachers think they are hurting by doing this? the only people it hurts is us the students, and do they really think the government cares about us? I was told my my personal development teacher that when we finally do go back to the school the government will not have anything to do with what happens to these weeks that we are about to lose. I wish the teachers would take a step back for a moment and look at what their job is suppose to be, they are suppose to be here to teach us the knowledge we need to know to do the best we can in our chosen field, but I just don't feel like they care enough about us to do that.
It is petty of them to try and get less of a work load and more money (even though they keep saying money isn't the big issue here) but maybe they should go to teachers college and actually do what it takes to become a teacher to earn the right of a teaching assistant. College teachers are not University teachers, they don't have PhD's, and MB's, etc.. they have nothing (for the most part) I have a teacher who has not gone to teachers college, never worked in the industry, but she is friends with our coordinator so she got the jobm how could you possibly concieve that you deserve to have less of a work load, you have no idea what it means to be a teacher.
Sorry for the lengthiness of this remark, as you can see I have a huge opinion on the subject... I want to graduate this semester!!!
One more thing, its nice that the teachers are just making us sit here while we wait to go back to school, what am I suppose to do in the meantime.. I should be compensated for sitting and waiting with the roomate from hell I should add, when I should be going to school. I was looking forward to moving away from this creep in 3 weeks and now I might have to stay longer? this is rediculous.
To Cousin Jenni: "Roomate from hell"? *LOL*
Sue!! You should be compensated for pain and suffering!
BTW, what about McGuinty announcing tuition hikes at the same time as this strike? Talk about rubbing salt into the wound!
Yeah I forgot about the tuition hikes, mainly because it won't affect me, but that is pretty brutal to announce that and then have this happen... it's hard to remember what we are paying for in the first place.
Yeah, Jenni, you won't be affected by tuition hikes (hopefully!), but how about those poor first and second year students who have to work during the summer to make the money to pay for those higher tuition costs, and might have the term expanded into the spring or summer to make up for lost time. They are really up the proverbial creek without a paddle!
I think strikes should not be allowed in the public service in general, but especially in education!
Hey Jenni I went to my school today and there wasn't even a hint of a strike other than some bus detour signs because they won't cross the "picket line". There isn't even a sign on the ground saying they're on strike. If they're not going to be teaching then they should at least be standing in the rain!
Right on Marc! Picket in the rain, sleet and snow! This should not be a vacation for them! The teachers I feel sorry for are the ones who did not want to strike. (They may be exempt from picketing in the weather!)
I think the instructors are in that mess at Pearson headed for various holiday destinations.
Interesting that the pickets only form during local live newscasts.. I wonder who gives them that heads-up?
Exactly, if they believe in what they are striking for they should be out there no matter what. Sam said he saw them picketing the first day, but that was the only sighting. If they don't really want to strike then they shouldn't no one is forcing them to.
I agree that it is going to be terrible for all the other people still in post secondary with the tuition hikes, what is the justification for raising the tuition anyways?! Do the schools really need that much more money?! Since it's being raised then parking should be lowered or better yet free, or how about residence maybe they should look into other areas to lower costs to make it a little easier for the generation thats going to carry the politicians and teachers through there old age to get the education they need to be able to do that. I don't think they have thought this through very well... bettering yourself through a higher education shouldn't just be for the wealthy.
Hey folks,
Joanne linked to this blog so I figured I'd pop on by. She is correct when she wrote that not all people who participate in strikes necessarily want to be there. Both my rents are high school teachers and in NB (my home province) they were loath to actually take negotiations as far as a strike. Sometimes its the bigwhigs in the union who make decisions that put the teachers and other public servants in a really tough spot.
I look foward to reading more adventures.
Riley
Yeah being on strike at BF Goodrich really showed me how much the union bosses can take control and make people go on strike wether they want to or not. People often will vote for a strike mandate just to give a barganing chip for the union, but never actually want to go on strike
I agree that the teachers probably don't want to be there anymore then we want them to be. However, when is enough, enough? It's already been a week and I don't know about everyone else but I would like to graduate this semester as was planed. When does the union step in and say "okay we've screweed the students long enough, and are obviously not getting what we want" or when does the government step in and take action with the mandate to go back to work. I've been hearing rumours that this strike is to be a lengthy one, and I realize that theres not much the teachers can do about it at this point, but when will the big whigs step in and start careing about us...
Jenni asked, "When will the bigwigs step in..."
Answer: When it is politically expedient for them to do so.
Dalton McWimpy will start doing something when enough people scream, but he doesn't want to act too soon, or he will be accused of being anti-union, and folks, dem's a LOT of votes (provincial election coming you know)!!!
Today instead of complaining some more I decided to do something. I wrote a letter to my MP and I think everyone should. If you go to www.collegestrike.com there is a link in the corner telling us how to contact them. I told him all my frustrations. I had a realization last night, and I am pretty upset about it as I'm sure my parents and everyone else's parents who pay for their kids tuition will be too: We paid for this time we are not in school. When we paid our tuitition we paid for this time right now that we are sitting at home doing nothing... so shouldn't we be reimbursed? how is that my parents are paying for me to do nothing in Hamilton, I could be doing this for free at home. I also brought this up with my M.P
I really hope this strike is over sooner then later.
All good points, Jenni! I checked out that link. There's a survey there asking, "Do you believe education should be made an essential service by the Ontario government?"
I was surprised to see an overwhelming majority vote no! What's up with that?? Maybe all the teachers' unions in Ontario got all their members to vote on this site. I can't believe the students feel that way!
Hi Marc
I got a real education reading all your comments! I pray that the strike ends soon and all my grandchildren graduate.
Love Grandma
I'm just testing something here:
Joanne's Journey
Cool! I was wondering when you'd link to MY page, Marc! Thanks.
So we get to go back to school, and this seems wonderful, the teachers set aside Monday to discuss how the year will be finished, and classes resumed this morning. This sounds all well and good, until we get to school and no one tells us what the strategy is for finishing the year. I feel like the teachers have this secret club and no students are allowed to know anything at all, please this is so kindergarten. We have a right to know how our year is being finished, have we not suffered enough? Oh yeah what is it again that WE did that we're suffering for?
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