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| Issue No 30 |  |
10 September 1999 |
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NewsTales From the Picket LineBy Leon Parissi
About 1500 people gathered in Sydney this week for a spirited rally as part of the 24 Hour strike called by the NSW Teachers Federation and supported by the NSW Public Service Association.
Earlier that morning at Sydney Institute of Technology joint union pickets were held. We had leaflets to hand out and we challenged people who crossed the picket line explaining what was going on and encouraging them to join us. When it was time to move on to the nearby rally we gathered together and marched as a contingent through the campus with our SIT Workplace Group banner flying, our voices in full cry and emotions high from a picket well maintained. We had managed to convince a few people to join the strike (as we found out later) and others were persuaded not to staff service points even though they worked that day. A sign of our success was that very few people crossed the picket line that morning. Another indicator of our success was that the canteen was closed all day. As we made our way to Wentworth other strikers joined in and we handed out leaflets along the way. At the rally we heard speeches from union leaders about the job cuts, management's appalling handling of the matter and the joint unions' fight in meetings with management and in the Industrial Commission. Then the motion was put to deplore the cuts and call for the Carr government to restore funding with a rider that if funding is not restored by 10 September then another strike is to be held on 22 September. After the Wentworth Park rally we marched back to SIT where we blocked Mary Ann Street and more speeches were made. The members from the 'soon to closed' Seaforth College urged us to join a further rally at the Head Office of the Department and in between time a picket of the SIT Ultimo library was called.
The Library was to be closed because of the strike but management forced its opening using unwilling casual labor and a few strike breakers. The library picket decided to become active and we marched through the library yelling our slogans and urging others to join us as we handed out leaflets explaining what the strike was about and advertising the SIT Action Group meeting. After we got that off our collective chest we felt a lot better and retired to lunch and then on to the last picket of the day at Head Office. Not so many made it to Bridge Street so all we could manage was a small delegation to see some of the Department of Education and Training top brass and delivered a protest at the imminent closure of the Seaforth College. The day was well spent in open defiance of the arrogant masters of the Department and the State Government. A good opening shot in a determined campaign to save at least 630 jobs in TAFE and 2,500 in public service jobs overall.
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