BILL 115 IS BOTH POLITICS AND OVERKILL

On the other hand as Luisa D'Amato suggested last week, teachers en masse really are boneheads. Not all of them mind you, just the louder ones. The rest just maybe have a bigger picture view of the working world. It's not a perfect world for the lucky ones like teachers and it down right sucks for so many other non union, non professional employees. Even basic labour legislation is rarely enforced however teachers having excellent contracts and working conditions probably didn't need Bill 115 to wake them up. Clearly both sides are boneheads and have been for a very long time.

On November 24/12 another bonehead wrote into the Waterloo Region Record with this Editorial "Nothing boneheaded about dedicated teachers". This teacher has a sad story to tell regarding her personal circumstances. That is indeed unfortunate and no one wishes poor health on anyone's family. Apparently her teaching colleagues have been very helpful towards her and she objects to them being called boneheads. Obviously she is loyal to her colleagues which while admirable doesn't make them any less boneheaded.

Here is my suggestion to this letter writer who needs all her sick days and her constantly increasing pay cheque. Seriously look around and see if you can remotely find better pay, pension and benefits anywhere else. Please don't compare yourself to doctors, nurses, police officers, astronauts or professional athletes because you are none of the above. You are a teacher and your package surpasses 90% of the rest of us. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and be glad that in your personal time of need you've got a job and a union which will protect you far better than anything else the rest of us have got. As far as having a contract that has "...been earned in collective bargaining with my employer have been taken away by the government." let me say this. School Boards have been selling the farm on contracts with teachers for decades. Guess why? Because it's not their money they've been throwing at you. It's mine and ours and yes our government are ultimately in charge of education. Yes they too have pissed it away for decades and now they are trying to slow the drain. That means even heavily protected and unionized teachers may actually feel a tiny bit of pain. I feel sorry for your personal family problems but try dealing with them from the job and salary position the rest of us are in. Quite frankly my dear, you don't know squat.