ID :
30893
Tue, 11/18/2008 - 18:15
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/30893
The shortlink copeid
NSW teachers to walk off job over pay
Public school teachers across NSW will walk off the job for two hours on Wednesday morning to attend planned stopwork meetings. The NSW Teachers' Federation said the industrial action was being held to protest against the state government's pay offer, which the union says effectively cuts wages and conditions in schools and TAFE colleges.
The meeting will determine future industrial action in the federation's Staffing,
Salaries and Standards campaign.
The stopwork action is in direct defiance of the Industrial Relations Commission
which last week ruled the timing of the meetings "unreasonable", suggesting they be
conducted outside school hours.
"They will inevitably cause unnecessary disruption to students' education and
parents, especially working parents," Michael Coutts-Trotter, the director-general
of the NSW Department of Education and Training, said in a statement last Friday.
The two-hour meeting is set to be broadcast from 9am (AEDT) Wednesday at various
venues across the state.
"We have a responsibility to fully inform our members of the department's offer and
our reasons for rejecting it," federation acting deputy president Gary Zadkovich has
said.
"We believe teachers need to hear that information directly at our stopwork meetings
and vote on further action."
Mr Coutts-Trotter said more than 88 per cent, or 1,982 schools, across NSW would
provide minimal supervision during the stopwork action, with many holding classes as
normal.
He said the department had offered teachers an 11.4 per cent pay rise over three
years, with the largest portion - 4.8 per cent - offered for the first year.
"I am very disappointed that in spite of a direction from the IRC not to hold this
strike during school hours the union is still pressing ahead," Mr Coutts-Trotter
said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Teachers want a decent pay rise. They deserve a decent pay rise, but it has to be
affordable to taxpayers."
He said all parents should have received a note from their school about the
arrangements for Wednesday morning.
The meeting will determine future industrial action in the federation's Staffing,
Salaries and Standards campaign.
The stopwork action is in direct defiance of the Industrial Relations Commission
which last week ruled the timing of the meetings "unreasonable", suggesting they be
conducted outside school hours.
"They will inevitably cause unnecessary disruption to students' education and
parents, especially working parents," Michael Coutts-Trotter, the director-general
of the NSW Department of Education and Training, said in a statement last Friday.
The two-hour meeting is set to be broadcast from 9am (AEDT) Wednesday at various
venues across the state.
"We have a responsibility to fully inform our members of the department's offer and
our reasons for rejecting it," federation acting deputy president Gary Zadkovich has
said.
"We believe teachers need to hear that information directly at our stopwork meetings
and vote on further action."
Mr Coutts-Trotter said more than 88 per cent, or 1,982 schools, across NSW would
provide minimal supervision during the stopwork action, with many holding classes as
normal.
He said the department had offered teachers an 11.4 per cent pay rise over three
years, with the largest portion - 4.8 per cent - offered for the first year.
"I am very disappointed that in spite of a direction from the IRC not to hold this
strike during school hours the union is still pressing ahead," Mr Coutts-Trotter
said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Teachers want a decent pay rise. They deserve a decent pay rise, but it has to be
affordable to taxpayers."
He said all parents should have received a note from their school about the
arrangements for Wednesday morning.
