“I’ve never been more torn. I can’t stand the government and what Gove is doing to education and I want to support my union.”
The young teacher was sitting on the edge of her chair frowning and clutching a mug of coffee as she went on, “but I hate the thought of going on strike for pay, pensions and conditions even though what they have done is underhand and dishonest. It’s wrong. But I suppose I’ll do it”.
The extra pension contributions coupled with the pay freeze and inflation had reduced her standard of living but she spoke of people she knew on “zero-hours contracts” and the well-reported phenomenon of more people being in work but receiving less pay, which seems to be a peculiarly British response to the worldwide recession.
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