
Issue No 32		24 September 1999

Letters to the Editor

It's Worse in Detroit

I read you article on the Destruction of public Education in NSW.

My wife is a teacher in Detroit, MI USA. There is so much collusion between the (union ) DFT (Detroit Federation of Teachers) and the school board, it is dificult to understand where one stops and the other starts.

The Union went along with the Board to extend the teachers work day to 8.5 (from 7.0) hours with no increase in pay. This in addition to eliminating sick days and a whole host of other regressive issues.

When the "union" presented the "contract" for "extension", the Detroit teachers walked. In the US, today, if a worker goes on strike, it is the same as a death sentence. Here in Michigan, the teachers INDIVDUALLY faced fines of $200 per day ! This was NOT enacted because of lack of support in the Detroit community. [The parents supported the strikers].

Conditions are so bad in Detroit schools : As reported in the New York Times : in science labs the most technical piece of equipment is a stop watch. (!)

In the end, a less regressive contract was bargained. A rigged vote on the contract is now underway. The State of Michigan legislature is now rewriting the law that if any teacher strikes they will be both fined and terminated.

In solidarity,

Cheryl and Michael

Michigan

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Issue 32 contents

Interview: His Daily Fix
Graham Richardson talks of his transition from national politics to talkback radio and his ongoing jobs as a fixer.

Politics: Requiem to the Third Way
The swing to Labor in Victoria shows clearly that once again Australian voters have rejected economic rationalism. The result, and the reasons for it, should worry John Howard.

International: A Common Struggle for Freedom
It may not get the headlines, but Western Sahara has some chilling similarities with East Timor.

Unions: Woolscour Workers say No to Peter Reith
Workers at Canobolas Wooltopping - a woolscour plant near Orange, in central west New South Wales, have just sent a message to Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith: thanks, but no thanks.

Legal: Outlawed Acts of Consicence
The recent boycotts in support of East Timorese indepndence highlights the extremism of Reith's second wave.

History: Was Manning Clark A True Believer
A Canberra history conference shines the spotlight on Australia's most famous historian.

Review: Paranoid Echoes
The calls to examine the Australian�Soviet documents in the Moscow Literary archives have grown in volume over the past year.

Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre
The latest issue of Labour Review - a resource for officals and students.

Satire: Kennett Boosts Chances: Two More Independents Dead
Caretaker Premier Jeff Kennett today admitted that voters perceived him as arrogant and out of touch, but insisted that they were wrong.

» Public Servants Seek Leave For Timor

» Goodbye Green Bans - Dumped by the Wave

» Government Rules Nobble Public Sector

» ACTU Pushes On With Privatised Portal

» Powerful New Years Eve Deal for TransGrid

» Banks Grill Staff on New Fees

» Off the Rails - Workers Gagged

» Staff Frustration Boils Over at Sydney Water

» Kennett Nose-Dive: Botsman Picks It

» Academics Fail Non-Union Deal

» Nike in Indonesia: Military Employed to Intimidate Workers

» The Laugh�s On Barry