
Issue No 44		03 March 2000

News

Penal Provisions Against Teachers Condemned

The decision to launch legal action against the NSW Teachers Federation was an inappropriate action for a Labor Government, the NSW Labor Council said last night.

Debating the Carr Government's decision to seek fines of up to $10,000 a day against the federation, Labor Council secretary Michael Costa said the act was counterproductive and would only galvanise support amongst rank and file teachers.

"We do not think it's appropriate for a Labor government to use the penal provisions of the Act against a trade union," Costa said.

"To deal with an industrial issue in this way is silly and counter productive."

Teachers Defend Actions

Teachers Federation general secretary John Hennessy says the decision to ban the ELLA tests was based on previous misuse of the tests, where they had been used as ground of withdrawing valuable resources from some schools.

While the teachers accept the test's value as a tool for diagnosing the special needs of students, they do not believe it should be used as the basis for the allocation of remedial teachers.

"In this dispute the Federation has only ever sought one thing: that the unprofessional behaviour in misusing test results would not be repeated in subsequent years," Hennessy says

For this very professional act, the Government has sought and obtained orders in the Industrial Commission and now we have the sorry spectacle of a Labor Government attempting to have a union fined in a way reminiscent of the Reith agenda.

Private Teachers Back Comrades

Meanwhile, private sector teachers who carried out the tests this week said they would have banned them too if their employers had proposed to use them in the way the Department of Education proposed.

Independent Education union secretary Dick Shearman said he had never come across a situation where diagnostic tests would be used to rate schools.

"This was a totally responsible act by the Teachers Federation," Shearman told Labor Council. "The Government is to be condemned for depicting the dispute as something other than what it was."

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  Issue 44 contents

Interview: The Big Fella
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley speaks about Labor�s evolving relationship with the trade union movement in the post-Accord era.

Unions: An Interactive Resource
The priority for unions in the 21st century is organising and growth. Greg Combet�s unions @work report identified the direction unions should be moving.

Media: Public Hearings
As the big media players look increasingly tarnished, the broadcasting minnows like FBi are seeking their share of the airwaves.

History: Labour History Under Siege
In good labour tradition, the history section of Workers Online begins the year with a call to arms.

Olympics: Games Greed Boosts Homeless Numbers
'Homeless in Sydney' is shaping up to be the theme of the Olympics with many property owners evicting tenants and pushing up rents.

Women: No Time To Be Casual
International Women�s Day is a day to take action. As a shop steward or union delegate why not use IWD as an opportunity to encourage the women in your workplace to join the union?

International: Serbian And Kosovo Unions Meet
The Italian metalworkers has hosted meetings on how to build a different future for the workers in the Balkans.

Labour Review: What's New
Read the latest issue of Labour Review our resource for students, activists and officials.

Review: Rock and a Hard Place
A hippie festival? Alternative? No way...the music festival know as the Big Day Out (BDO) is fast becoming a mainstream youth cultural event, a snapshot of the broader society that unions are struggling to engage.

» Directors: Two Strikes And You�re Out

» Track Workers Face Spot Drug Tests

» Big Bird Fights Ansett Jobs Flight

» LaborNet A Step Forward in Democracy

» From the Lorry to the Creche, We're Watching

» Penal Provisions Against Teachers Condemned

» Auditor General Moves on TAFE

» Yahoo! Under Fire for Union Censorship

» Unrest Bubbles Over Coke Sackings

» Jennie To Sign Off Online

» Basic Goods Sought for East Timorese

» Western Sydney Added to Campus Tour

» Pay Equity Update

» STOP PRESS: Mac Attack Tuesday