Victorian teachers stop work

Victorian teachers stop work

By Mary Merkenich and Norrian Rundle

MELBOURNE — Around 4000 Victorian teachers stopped work on February 27 and attended a mass meeting at the Sports and Entertainment Centre to show their anger at the continuing erosion of the state education system, most recently under the Kennett government, and their working conditions.

Many teachers, members of the Australian Education Union (AEU), feel very dissatisfied with the union leadership's response to this attack over the last few years. Some have become demoralised and resigned from the union or become totally inactive.

The AEU leadership plan of action presented at the stop-work meeting was no different from past strategy — token industrial action and a reliance on negotiations and arbitration. A new aspect is a so-called political and community campaign, which is supposed to supersede an industrial campaign.

The leaders put forward motions for two campaigns: one for increased pay, and a campaign to defend state education and improve working conditions. Their resolutions contained very little in the way of industrial action or grassroots involvement and control.

Two amendments were put from the floor by a rank and file group; to have a single campaign around all three issues; and to inject more industrial action by calling for a stop-work and mass meeting in May.

Debate around the first amendment was heated but tightly controlled from the chair. The rank and file group argued that a reliance on negotiations without industrial action has led teachers nowhere except into the pitfall of trading off hard-won conditions for a small pay rise. Moreover, separating the campaigns and giving priority to the salary issue would give the government the ability to portray teachers as money hungry and cynical about fighting for the defence of state education.

The leadership resolution won the day, and the chair ruled the second amendment out of order. Before any challenge could be made to this ruling, the microphones on the floor were turned off. Soon after many teachers left the meeting.

From GLW issue 265