Festival Records dispute ends
SYDNEY — After 12 weeks on the picket line, workers at Festival Records have won a better redundancy package. Fifty members of the National Union of Workers at the Pyrmont plant were sacked on May 12.
The News Ltd subsidiary initially offered employees only two weeks' notice and two weeks' pay for each year worked, up to 10 years.
Picketers blocked nearly all products from entering or leaving the plant. After months of negotiations, management offered a minimum three weeks' notice and three weeks' pay for every year, up to 10 years. This offer was accepted by NUW members at a meeting on August 6.
Public schools discriminated against
SYDNEY — The NSW Teachers Federation revealed last week that NSW private schools now receive more state and federal funding per student than public schools. The federal government directs 60% of its school funding for NSW to only 28% of students (those in private schools). The NSW government, which also funds private schools, covers, on average, only 25% of the cost of each public school student.
The NSWTF says that some private schools, such as Barker College in Hornsby (one of the most expensive in Australia), receive over $2 million a year from state and federal government coffers. Despite this, the federal government is considering increasing funding to private schools.