More Equal Than Others
Last week a Scottish 'think tank' came up with a bright idea - or so they thought anyway.
The Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP) suggested that school education would benefit from concentrating teacher training into a single week - at the start of a school year - rather than being spread out in single days over the different school terms.
The benefits of such a policy are pretty obvious - planning and organising training becomes easier - but more importantly the single shut down days could be used for other activities.
But the idea drew a frosty and predictable response from the teaching unions - teachers need 13 weeks holiday a year they declared - the long summer break is essential for teachers to recharge their batteries.
What an insult to other groups of workers - the classroom assistants and nursery nurses for example - who also work with children and young people.
Yet these workers get paid only during the school term - they don't get paid for 52 weeks of the year - 13 of which are classed as holidays, but only if you're employed as a teacher.
While everybody bangs on about fairness at work - it's important to point out that some workers get a much better deal than others - and that simply isn't fair.
Equality at work is about a lot of things - and it's high time that serious questions were being asked about the pay package as a whole - and to take that into account in future pay negotiations.
So more power to your elbow CSPP - the teaching unions may not like people pointing out that they support a 'two tier workforce - where some workers are more equal than others.
But that is the reality of the situation - which the unions do nothing to challenge.
The Centre for Scottish Public Policy (CSPP) suggested that school education would benefit from concentrating teacher training into a single week - at the start of a school year - rather than being spread out in single days over the different school terms.
The benefits of such a policy are pretty obvious - planning and organising training becomes easier - but more importantly the single shut down days could be used for other activities.
But the idea drew a frosty and predictable response from the teaching unions - teachers need 13 weeks holiday a year they declared - the long summer break is essential for teachers to recharge their batteries.
What an insult to other groups of workers - the classroom assistants and nursery nurses for example - who also work with children and young people.
Yet these workers get paid only during the school term - they don't get paid for 52 weeks of the year - 13 of which are classed as holidays, but only if you're employed as a teacher.
While everybody bangs on about fairness at work - it's important to point out that some workers get a much better deal than others - and that simply isn't fair.
Equality at work is about a lot of things - and it's high time that serious questions were being asked about the pay package as a whole - and to take that into account in future pay negotiations.
So more power to your elbow CSPP - the teaching unions may not like people pointing out that they support a 'two tier workforce - where some workers are more equal than others.
But that is the reality of the situation - which the unions do nothing to challenge.
