Parents & teachers unite for education
by Peter Mac A 24-hour strike was held last Thursday by teachers employed in NSW public schools, TAFE Colleges, the Adult Migrant Education Service, the Department of Corrective Services and the Department of Education and Training. There was overwhelming support among teachers for the industrial action, which took place in defiance of a directive of the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to call off the action. Stopwork meetings were attended by more than 25,000 teachers, with only 135 voting against strike action. A further series of two-hour strikes are scheduled to take place over the next two weeks. The strike action has been supported by the NSW Association of Parents and Citizens Association (P&C), the Independent Teachers' Union, the NSW Legislative Council and other organisations and individuals. Responding to the strike (and attempting to absolve himself from blame), the NSW Director-General of Education Ken Boston clearly implied that teachers were responsible for the poor conditions in NSW schools. He said that teachers should understand why the numbers in public education had fallen from 78 per cent to 70 per cent over the last 20 years. Ignoring issues like overcrowding, poor maintenance, excessively large student/teacher ratios, poor pay for teachers and diversion of funds to private schools, he described the Teachers' Federation as deeply conservative, with no understanding of "customer orientation". The strike followed some 15 months of stonewalling by the Government on teacher pay claims. After brief discussions, the Government referred the issue to the IRC, lodging its own "claim" against the teachers, in which it offered a minimum pay rise of four per cent over four years for the majority of grades, in return for harder work, longer hours, reduced vacation times and reductions in many other conditions of service. The NSW Teachers' Federation described the salary and conditions "package" offered by the Government to teachers as worse than anything proposed by the infamous former Liberal Education Minister Terry Metherell. Federation President Ms Sue Simpson accused the Premier of trying to avoid a community debate about the massive changes to education in NSW and the best means of addressing a teacher shortage. She said: "The Government must come out of hiding, and accept responsibility for ensuring harmony in our public schools and colleges. ... They are pursuing a punitive line on a profession that goes out of its way to be caring. It's the psychology of the bully." Teachers in Catholic schools, who will also be affected by the Government's salaries offer, will also be taking strike action in Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and regional centres this Wednesday. Mr Dick Shearman, Secretary of the Independent Teachers' Union, agreed that the salary offer was worse than anything put forward by Dr Metherell or former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett. The head of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney, Brother Kevin Canavan, stated that overworked and under-appreciated teachers were being forced to strike. "If the community wants a highly competent and motivated teaching force, we need to act to ensure that teachers salaries and conditions are commensurate with the high levels of responsibility and accountability expected of them", he said. Ms Bev Baker, President of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW, praised the innovative role of NSW public school teachers in developing new methods of education and improved links with parents and the community. She clearly sheeted home the blame for the strike to the NSW Premier, noting that: "Bob Carr must have known that an award that seeks to completely restructure the working lives of teachers while forcing them to accept a cut in real wages could only result in open warfare on the industrial front.... "Parents hate strikes, but they're not naive about what causes them. They can see that the Premier's deliberately aggressive industrial policies ... have created havoc and hardship throughout the State." The Labor Government's lodgement of a claim against its employees has set a dangerous precedent for use of the industrial court system by employers to attack the wages and conditions of their employees. It is an astonishing act by a government which claims to represent working people. Privatisation Ken Boston's use of the term "customer orientation" is also highly significant. The NSW teachers dispute provides clear evidence of the gradual transfer of the public education system to the private sector. This has already started with the reduction of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system, including the closure of some TAFE facilities, and the sale of public education assets to private schools. The transfer is now being assisted by the run-down of public school facilities, and the degradation of teachers' salaries. Although salaries at commencement of service are comparatively good, teachers soon fall behind in comparison with other professionals. Salaries at Catholic schools are the same as those of the State teachers, but salaries of teachers at other private schools are far superior to those of public school teachers. The NSW Minister for Education John Aqualina sends his own children to one such wealthy private school! However, if the NSW Government thinks it can continue to put the boot into the state public education system, it should think again. As Ms Baker noted: "The Premier's single-minded pursuit of industrial brinkmanship has angered parents, infuriated teachers, and left the Director-General of Education and Training defending the indefensible." Regarding the current dispute she stated: " The ball is firmly in the Government's court. This award must be withdrawn immediately. Teachers must be offered a sensible salary increase on the basis of their current working conditions and reflecting their increased skills and responsibilities. ... People will not tolerate having their children used as missiles in the Premier's industrial warfare."