
Issue No 38		05 November 1999

News

Teachers Pay Site Doesn’t Give Full Story

The NSW Education Department is censoring teachers' responses to the Internet chatroom it established to get feedback on the pay deal it has offered directly to teachers.


	Teachers Federation Delegate - Barry Sexton

The NSW Teachers Federation says negative questions and comments are not being posted by the chatroom's moderator, fuelling union suspicions the site is a stunt to create the impression of consultation.

Departmental head Ken Boston has been accused of using Reith-style tactics in bypassing the union to make his pay claim directly to teachers after he and Minister John Aquilina refused to meet with the Federation for more than ayear.

Boston this week outraged unions by posting his pay offer directly on the Internet and then referring the award to the Industrial Relations Commission for arbitration without any discussions with the union.

Teachers Federation senior vice-president Barry Sexton told Labor Council's weekly meeting that the award focuses on the lowest common denominator and would do particular damage to casual teachers.

Sexton warned the award could lead to a flood of teachers deserting the profession and moving to other states where conditions are superior.

Labor Council secretary Michael Costa says he's raised the Education Department's handling of the pay claim with the Premier and reiterated it was unacceptable for a Labor Government to bypass the union.

"I think it's time John Aquilina sat down with (Industrial Relations Minister) Jeff Shaw and got a lesson on how industrial relations is done in this state," Costa says.

To visit the Education Department chat room go:

http://www.det.nsw.gov.au/newaward and follow the links to the forum

For the Teacher Fed's counter forum, visit The Adventures of Cyber-Ken

http://www.nswtf.org.au/Salaries%20and%20Status/ken_cyber.htm

STOP PRESS More than 500 western Sydney teachers took spontaneuos action this afternoon, walking out of schools and converging on Aqulina's electoral office in Blacktown where they sought to return the Department's proposed award.

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  Issue 38 contents

Interview: Peter Reith
We’ve fought him for the last four years, perhaps it’s time to try to understand him.

Education: The Boston Strangler
If the teachers' salaries "offer" had been any good, John Aquilina, the Minister for Good News Only, would have made the announcement and been seen to promote it.

Economics: Key Indicators
A new ILO publication provides real cross national comparisons which show that Australian workplaces rate very well on productivity, wages and non wage measures

Unions: Dili's Union Presence
The International Federation of Journalists’ Safety Office for the Media in East Timor (SOMET) is conducting an investigation into the recent killings of two journalists in East Timor.

History: Maritime Dispute Records
A Joint ACTU – ASSLH project will identify and preserve as many records as possible arising from the 1997-98 Maritime Dispute.

International: Western Mining into Guns and Gold
An Australian mining company, Western Mining Company Limited (WMCL), has effectively won the support of the Philippines army in its battle with traditional owners in Southern Mindano.

Satire: Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene
Gay scientists today released a study which, they claim, at last identifies the “Christian Gene".

Labour Review: What's New in the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour Review, our resource for students, delegates and officials.

» Reith : Directly Elect the ACTU President Too

» Unions Launch Search to Fill Games With Local Workers

» Public Servants Offered Quadruple Time for New Years Eve

» If You Want to Protest - Dump the Preamble

» Six Minutes To Clean a Classroom: Cleaners Draw the Line

» New Labour Advisory Council Meets

» Teachers Pay Site Doesn’t Give Full Story

» Bankstown Students Win Union Support

» Workers to Use AGM to Call Telstra to Account

» Unions On Line Conference

» Foxy Officials to Crash Backlot

» POSITION VACANT - APHEDA, Union Aid Abroad.

» Guest Report

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Piers Watch

» Lines of Demarcation

» Referendum? No Dam(n) Choice!

» With Friends Like These ...

» Get Real

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