
Issue No 88		16 March 2001

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News

Casual Teachers Break Through

Teachers are this week celebrating a landmark legal victory by 13 casual teachers who were found to have been discriminated against on the grounds of inferior rates of pay.

The decision in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal is being seen as a breakthrough in the battle to have casual teachers recognized as professionals.

There are around 28,000 casual teachers in New South Wales who have been exploited for many years by successive governments. They have been performing the same work as permanent teachers and yet receiving in some cases up to $10,000 per annum less pay.

The Teachers Federation funded the case for the thirteen women. The case was first lodged in 1995. During the hearings the thirteen women were subject to intensive cross-examination in a case which the Department of School Education fought most bitterly.

"Repeatedly governments have failed to recognise and address the issue of pay equity. In the last salaries negotiations the Government was simply not prepared to fund casual teachers salaries consistent with their own pay equity policy," NSW Teachers Federation president Sue Simpson says

"The hearings concluded in August 1999 and it took more than a year for the tribunal to bring down its decision. Unfortunately during this period schools were engaged in protracted industrial turmoil over teacher salaries including pay equity for casual teachers. Indeed the final teachers salary strike in May 2000 was an attempt to get the Government to address the issue of casual teachers' pay.

"The decision vindicates the Federation's stance that casual teachers have been grossly exploited. This decision means that the Government will have to reconsider its position as the current Award does not fully address this issue".

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  Issue 88 contents

Interview: Labor Law
Shadow Attorney General Robert McClelland outlines his plans for workers entitlements, legal aid and a Bill of Rights

Unions: Poetic Justice
The ACTU kicked off its 2001 Living Wage campaign this week with a new shock tactic: poetry.

Technology: Big Brother�s Legacy
Organisations with restrictive staff email polices risk locking themselves in the Industrial Age by treating their staff as units to be monitored.

Corporate: Scumbags Exposed
On the eve of the inaugural Corporate Scumbags Tour, we look at the worst of the worst from the Top End of Town.

International: Playing Away
Pat Ranald looks at a proposal to hold Australian companies to basic standards when they invest in developing countries.

Environment: Nuclear Titanics
The Maritime Union has joined Greenpeace in a campaign to stop our seas becoming a nuclear highway.

History: Out of the Bog
Neale Towart looks at the life of big Jim Larkin, one of the heroes of an Irish trade union movement that continues to thrive.

Politics: Westie�s Macquarie Street Alert
The Workers MLC, Ian West, provides the first in a series of regular rundowns on the upcoming Parliamentary session

Review: The Next American Century?
How will the United States maintain its global power in an era when the very notion of the nation-state is under challenge?

Satire: Dollar Crashes Through Psychological 0.00c Barrier
The bedevilled Australian dollar dropped below the crucial 0.00c barrier losing its battle to avoid the humiliation of being worth less than the commemorative Bradman coins distributed by the Sunday Telegraph last weekend.

» Directors Face Criminal Charges Over Super Scam

» Call Centre Code Picks Up Speed

» Staff Demand Action as Jobless Number Grows

» Lifeguards to Down Togs Over Sweaty Speedo Scam

» Hotel Workers Refuse to Raise Sweat

» Blood on the Beds at Sleep City

» Paint Lock-Out Claims First Victim

» Casino Workers Seek Full Metal Jacket

» Leichhardt Council Endangers the Public

» Casual Teachers Break Through

» Tide Turns on Award-Stripping

» Workers Demand Seat on Racing Board

» Shangri-La Faces D-Day

» Fiji PM Appointment Illegal

» Activists Notebook