Can I afford to strike ? Can I afford not to ?

You’ll struggle to find a teacher that agrees with the Government’s blatant pensions robbery. Who wants to pay in more to get less out - and be forced to struggle on to 68 to get our full pension (if we don’t resign or get sacked first)?

There’s only one real question that is asked - can we afford to lose more pay by continuing action? Of course your Union understands that few of us can easily afford to lose pay, but if we let these plans go through, teachers will be guaranteed to lose pay every single month in extra pensions contributions.

For example, if we don’t stop this robbery, a Lewisham UPS1 teacher will lose £34 every month from their salary from April - rising to a £103 pay cut every month from 2014

As anyone who knows trade union history will understand, the pressure on strikers’ incomes is always the main weapon that employers have in any prolonged dispute. But that’s why we’ll need to plan our outgoings to allow for deductions and collect to support those under the greatest financial pressures.

We have a clear choice - ceasing our action which guarantees a salary cut, increased pension ages and giving the Government confidence to press ahead with all their other bullying attacks – or carrying on with action - which could still mean over 1 million on strike.

We can’t guarantee victory, but if we don’t fight on, we know the price we will pay.