DET burning out TAFE teachers

One hundred New South Wales TAFE teachers packed the hall outside Wollongong Labor MP Noreen Hay's office on June 17 to reject new plans from the Department of Education and Training (DET) to change TAFE teachers conditions.

The stop-work meeting followed a DET proposal to increase the annual teaching load by 57 hours — equivalent to 400 permanent teaching positions across NSW.

The increase will affect many part-time casuals, with reduced take-home pay, and will likely result in thousands of job losses.

NSW Teachers Federation representative Rob Long told Green Left Weekly the government was seeking to make TAFE teachers pay for the concessions won in the 2009-11 award, including a 2.5% pay increase.

The department rejected a package proposed by the federation and instead sought harsh teaching workload increases through the Industrial Relations Commission.

"There's a big ideological bent in the Department of Education that TAFE teachers are less worthy", said Long, who is a teacher at Wollongong TAFE. "Especially part-time casuals, they're put through the drill just for fair conditions and pay."

The department wants to remove current limits on weekly teaching hours and the allowance of professional development time. Long said this placed unfair expectations on an already under-funded, underpaid profession.

"All you're doing is ensuring the burn-out of teachers with extra hours and work pressure."

Teachers from campuses in Wollongong, West Wollongong, Dapto and Nowra submitted a letter to Hay's office demanding Hay make a public statement in support of the TAFE teachers and condemn the department's proposals.

"Our message ... is that teachers will not tolerate any increase in their teaching hours to pay for their just pay increase", the letter said. "At a time when the local economy is suffering from increasing unemployment the state government must intervene to save jobs."

Long said: "There will be more stop-work meetings; we want a state-wide campaign."

From GLW issue 799