Teachers strike against 'Bob the bully'

John Tognolini, Sydney

Tens of thousands of teachers rallied outside the NSW parliament on May 27 to protest Labor Premier Bob Carr's interference in the public school teachers' pay case before the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).

The rally was a significant part of the first of two 24-hour strikes called by the NSW Teachers Federation. There were also regional teachers' rallies across NSW. The next 24-hour teachers' strike will be on June 2 and will include Sky Channel-linked teachers' mass meetings across the state.

On May 11, Carr announced to the media that his government intended to abruptly reopen the teachers' pay case in order to stop the IRC from granting what he termed "offensive", "wrong" and "unaffordable wage increases".

Carr claimed that the government can only afford to give teachers a 6% salary increase over the next two years. The NSW Teachers Federation lodged a claim before the IRC last year for a 25% pay increase. Last December, the IRC granted NSW teachers an immediate 5.5% interim pay hike.

On May 28, 13,000 Catholic school teachers walked off the job for 24 hours in solidarity with their 60,000 public school colleagues.

Waving banners and cheering loudly, about 2000 Catholic school teachers rallied in Sydney calling on the Carr government to stop interfering in the teachers' bid for a 25% pay rise.

"There has been a pattern of hostility in the Carr government towards teachers", Independent Education Union general secretary Richard Shearman told the rally. The Catholic school teachers then marched on the Carr's office in Macquarie Street chanting "salary justice now" and "Bob's a bully".

[John Tognolini is the NSW Teachers Federation representative at Rooty Hill High School and a member of the Socialist Alliance.]

From Green Left Weekly, June 2, 2004.

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From GLW issue 584