Teachers’ strikes are a disruptive annual event

THE FRIDAY THING
WHILE the vast majority of us spent the last few days basking in the sunshine, organising a barbecue, stocking up on something fizzy and eating too much chocolate, the teachers were planning strikes.

This is, of course, something of an annual ritual, much to the detriment of pupils’ education and the frustration and anger of parents, who face having to put in place all sorts of emergency plans so their children can be looked after while mum and dad are out at work.

The strike season, like the annual motorway traffic jams over the Easter holiday, causes nothing short of difficulty and disruption, a bizarre concept as teachers are well paid and have the additional benefits of more holidays than the rest of the nation.

The militant National Union of Teachers is put out because, in common with other public-sector workers, they have suffered cuts in pay. At least they still have jobs to go to, and comparatively well-paid jobs at that. Thousands of public servants have simply lost theirs.

The most bizarre element of this year’s revolt is that they are against the better teachers (those who think more about educating their pupils than waging war on the rest of us) being paid more for their effort.

In just about every other area of work activity, those who do the best work earn the most money. I cannot for the life of me find anything remotely wrong in rewarding people who do a better job than their colleagues.