By Chris Spindler
SYDNEY — In a historic day for teacher unions, some 15,000 TAFE teachers, Teachers Federation and Independent Education Union members held a spirited rally outside Parliament House on April 23, the day of their 24-hour strike. It was the first time all secondary education unions took united action. The rally also resolved to fight "as long as it takes" to win their claims.
The strike was called as part of a campaign for a fully funded 12% pay increase. The teachers argue there should be no trade-offs because the 12% is only a partial catch-up for 25% in lost wages over the past 20 years.
The Carr Labor government has offered 7.1% funded by the government, and a further 4.9% through productivity increases and trade-offs.
These trade-offs would result in fewer teachers, longer working hours, more weeks per year worked and larger class sizes. Teachers claim that education standards for pupils and teachers' working conditions would be adversely affected.
The government wants teachers to work an extra hour per week, and an extra week per year in TAFE. This would cost 350 teaching positions. In schools, longer working hours, a 50% cut in sick leave, work in holidays, extra classes and covering for sick teachers form part of the government's proposed trade-offs.
Denis Fitzgerald, president of the NSW Teachers Federation, received a huge cheer when he said that teachers had no more to give. The federation would "work with members to keep the fight going for as long as it takes; we're in it for the long haul".
This fighting sentiment was echoed by Geoff Turnbull from the TAFE Teachers Association, who said, "Blame for the current dispute must lie with the bloody-minded and arrogant Carr government. Action such as today is what will get us salary justice.
"Teachers should have no confidence in the arbitration system as an independent umpire. There is no justice in the bosses' court." Turnbull said teachers were "savaged" in the arbitration court in 1991, where the employer (the government) got more than it asked for.
Teachers anger has been brewing for many years, as speakers at the rally made clear. Brenda Seymour, industrial officer with the NSW Teachers Federation, said that the state government's economic rationalist approach had not changed from former premier Nick Greiner to Bob Carr. "Monetary terms rule the inputs and outcomes in education", she said.
Seymour said that between 1991 and 1995 TAFE enrolments had increased by 11,834 and graduates had increased by 58,264, while teacher numbers have either decreased or remained the same. A similar process has happened in schools, with 42,000 year 11 students in 1980 compared to this year's figure of 80,515.
In 1975, education represented 32% of the state budget; today that figure is only 26%. Fitzgerald said that a mere 1% increase in the budget allocation to education would pay for the teachers' pay rise.
Before the 24-hour strike, education minister John Aquilina pleaded with and threatened teachers in a vain effort to avert the action. He even sent a personalised letter to all teachers in a bid to change their minds. At the rally, it was pointed out that this mail-out cost the same as a year's wage for a full-time teacher.
However, Aquilina's barrage against the teachers failed to sway public support for them. A Newspoll conducted just before the strike action revealed that teachers had unprecedented support across the state and among all age groups.
This was also confirmed at the rally as support was shown by parent organisations, other education unions in the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania, the South Coast Trades and Labour Council and independent state parliamentarians Clover Moore and Peter McDonald. The Teachers Federation refused to allow parliamentarians from the Labor or Liberal parties to speak at the rally.