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BRIEF
Wildcat TAFE strikes against ruling

Simon Butler

4 November 2009

SYDNEY — Teachers at the Sydney Institute of TAFE held a wildcat strike on October 29 after the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) ruled teachers must sacrifice work conditions in return for a 12.5% wage rise over three years.

The October 30 Sydney Morning Herald said other TAFE campuses in NSW will also take strike action without union authorisation.

The IRC ruled TAFE teachers’ face-to-face workload would rise by 5.3%. Overall attendance hours would rise by 16.7%. Non-teaching educational staff also lost 50 hours a year of professional development time. Teaching staff had profession development cut by 16 hours a year.

TAFE staff are angry about the ruling, which closely resembled the proposal from the Department of Education and Training.

On November 9, the NSW Teachers Federation will hold meetings of TAFE members statewide to discuss further strike action, the SMH said.

The state Legislative Council passed a motion in support of the TAFE teachers, moved by Greens MLC John Kaye, on October 28.

It called on ALP Premier Nathan Rees, “to abandon the punitive provisions of the decision and negotiate in good faith with the NSW Teachers … to restore fair working conditions to TAFE teachers”.