Strike, part ii.

The strike is still on it seems. The Provincial Parliament is working to get them back to work or back to the table. The administration has rejected the last invitation to bargaining talks.

In parliament a member of the NDP stood up and declaimed that the strike wasn't on behalf of the teachers, it was really on behalf of the students. That's right. The union is destroying a year of school, forcing the students to waste their hard earned money, for the benefit of the students.

Here's something you should know: Most teachers, whether High School or college or university, secretly despise their students. I have had many dialogues with teachers where we discuss what a bunch of tools the students are, what a pain in the neck they are, what a headache they are, how dumb they are. Many professors regard the students a hindrance to their studies, without recognizing that without students they would have no studies. Of course, teachers will say they love students, or they love teaching, but what I have seen for the most part is that they love the idea of teaching, the idea of students- the platonic ideal, that is. The lumps they actually have in front of them, now that's a different story. This contempt can be seen in the strike. You sometimes see the staff speaking to students at the strike line: "We're doing this for you!" as in "Can't you see this is for your own good? We've destroyed this school year for you, but it's for your own good."

Spoke to a couple of TA's yesterday. They told me a bit more of their side. Two main facts came out.

1. The administration has apparently claimed that they have met with union leaders for negotiations thirty times over the course of this twelve week strike. According to the union, there have been eight meetings.

2. The TA's won some concessions in the early dealings, but were bullied by the rest of the union into still supporting the strike. Now the union is giving up those concessions for the TA's to try and get a better deal for the contract staff.

Ah, solidarity. There's nothing like it. And this is nothing like it. My scorn for almost everyone involved increases.