Jon Lamb, Darwin
After many months of campaigning, teachers in the Northern Territory have won a better pay deal than that originally offered by the NT government.
Following a conciliation meeting of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission on April 29, the NT branch of the Australian Education Union announced it would accept the government's new offer of 15.4% over 2.5 years.
AEU president Alan Perrin told ABC News that it was a "good outcome" for teachers in the NT, putting their wages on a par with what teachers receive in southern states. The new deal, which teachers will vote on in the next week, will also reduce class sizes from 30 to 27.
In the week before April 29, mass meetings of teachers were held to discuss the government's previous two-tiered offer, which gave more experienced teachers a higher wage increase (15%) than teachers new to the education system (11%). Meetings across the territory resolutely rejected the divisive proposal, indicating that they were prepared to take further industrial action.
The new wage deal is a compromise by the AEU (which had been demanding 18% over two years) and a backdown by the Clare Martin Labor government, which repeatedly claimed it could not afford to fund an increase of more than 11% over three years.
Ray Hayes, the Socialist Alliance candidate for the seat of Fannie Bay in this year's NT election, told Green Left Weekly: "While the NT government is shelling out funding for increased policing and stiffer 'law and order' policies, shopping centre upgrades, and subsidies for V8 super-car races, public education and health continue to suffer ... I think Clare Martin could see the teachers dispute was going to blow-up in her face, and reluctantly agreed to come part of the way to the union's demand."
From Green Left Weekly, May 4, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.