Teachers On Strike

Today, thousands of Victorian public school teachers didn't turn up for work. Instead, they staged a big protest demanding higher pay, better working conditions and smaller class sizes. Yep, the teachers had gone on a strike.

It's totally unheard of in Malaysia. Malaysian teachers generally get paid peanuts (and some deserving teachers never get the promotion or increment that should be theirs though some other lazy ones get triple promotions simply because they have the right skin colour), work throughout school holidays and handle classes with more than 45 kids each.

Big difference? You bet. But nothing is ever good enough for the Aussies. Nurses, airline employees, factory workers and even police officers stage what they term as "Stop Work Action" activities from time to time. I suppose to them the action is justifiable. I haven't been here long enough to pass any good judgement but I guess as they have their reasons. And if it's for the good of all eventually, why not? Very often, whenever the demands by certain unions are met, they perform a lot better. So it's cool.

That said, these strikes are also very disruptive. Some parents were understandbly upset because they were given too short a notice. Many working parents even had to bring their kids to work today because they couldn't find anyone to take care of their kids.

Joshua's class was not affected. So he went to school as usual. But more than half the school's kids were not there today because their teachers had refused to show up. And these "defiant" teachers have vowed to continue "industrial actions" until their demands are met. Which means we can expect more strikes in the near future.

A day or two of strikes are okay. I just hope they don't go on strike for 2 weeks every day consecutively. That would be disastrous!