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by Kerri Carr
Members have remained active behind the salaries and starts campaign, with strong attendance at a Sky Channel meeting on April 14 and strong support for a 24-hour strike on May 4. More than 21,000 members voted at the Sky Channel meeting and the Government has conceded that at least 72 per cent of teachers stopped work on May 4, a figure which Federation considers to underestimate the numbers participating.
The strong support for the union and the campaign has come in the face of unprecedented attack on the members and on Federation by the Carr Labor Government and the media, led by the Daily Telegraph.
The Sky Channel meetings resulted from the failure of the Government to agree to settle the dispute on satisfactory grounds after 10 weeks of negotiations. Members heard a detailed report and resolved to reject a Government’s offer made on April 12. However, the resolution conceded that the "quantum and configuration" of the April 12 offer "could provide an acceptable framework for a negotiated settlement".
The resolution noted nine areas in which progress had been made, including full funding by Treasury and a two per cent cash payment for permanent teachers dated from the expiry of the previous awards on July 1, 1999 but specified eight areas where improvements were necessary.
Members also declared their willingness to resume industrial action in the form of a 24-hour stoppage on May 4 and a withdrawal of teacher goodwill.
At the Sky Channel meeting 19,876 voted in favour, 852 against and 332 abstained.
During the holidays, the Government chose to return to the Industrial Relations Commission. The salaries dispute was the subject of a conciliation conference before Deputy President Sams and further discussions between the parties were held.
On April 26, the Department of Education and Training (DET) brought back some minor changes to some items in its April 12 proposal. There remained substantial areas of difference between the parties. Three of these were:
• whether teaching outside normal school hours between 7.30am and 5.30pm should be by direction or with agreement of the teacher concerned
• genuine pay equity for casual school teachers and part-time/casual teachers in TAFE
• the DET’s attempt to impose additional workload on TAFE teachers in what they refer to as a need for improved productivity in TAFE.
On April 27, DET indicated it was not prepared to negotiate further with Federation and sought an end to the conciliation conference. They then requested that the full bench of the Commission be convened for the purpose of setting dates for hearing their award application.
Deputy President Sams declined to issue the certificate necessary to mark the end of conciliation and recommended "that a meeting should take place in the next 24 hours between the Minister, the Labor Council of NSW and Senior Officers of the Federation and the Department with a view to finally and conclusively resolving the current impasse". He also said that having "regard to the substantive agreement so far reached, I am reluctant at this stage, to see all this good work come to nought by the parties reverting to their trenchant positions of six months ago — a long drawn out arbitration will be the only result and would be in no one’s interest".
The meeting which Deputy President Sams requested occurred on April 28 and a special meeting of the Federation’s Executive was convened for that evening, the last Friday of the holidays. This meeting has been mischievously misrepresented (see "The President Writes" on page 10).
Federation Executive noted the recommendation of Deputy President Sams and put forward a proposal which called for the Minister in the first instance to provide for all public education teachers salary increases no less than the specific salary increases provided to all Catholic schoolteachers by their employer. Further, the proposal called for the Minister to agree to settle those matters where satisfactory progress had been made consistent with the Sky Channel recommendation of April 14. In addition, those matters still unresolved after more than 10 weeks of negotiations be the subject of a narrow arbitration consistent with normal industrial relations practice. The narrow arbitration would be on the points of difference between the Government’s offer of April 12 which it forwarded to all teachers and the media (and slightly modified on April 26) and the Federation’s proposals as prepared for conciliation on April 26.
The Minister rejected any arbitration that might lead to additional cost to the package. Rather than walk out of the meeting, the Federation explored the possibility of another week of conciliation on TAFE issues and costings of the pay equity measures. In responding to this possibility, the Minister reiterated that no more money would be put into the package and that any industrial action would have to be called off. No agreement was reached. Federation indicated it would discuss the matter with Executive. The Executive preferred the original position for a narrow arbitration put to the Minister as the best way forward and this was conveyed to the Minister. (See "The President Writes" on page 10.)
Executive also decided to meet again the following Monday, May 1 to consider the Government’s response. However, as settlement had not been reached, the 24-hour strike planned for May 4 and the withdrawal of goodwill would now proceed.
On Monday morning May 1, the barrister representing the DET and the Government in the Commission responded by clearly stating Government’s rejection of the Federation’s proposal. Their proposal had been a package and was now withdrawn. They said that there were now no agreed matters between the parties.
Clearly, the Minister was not prepared to risk that the outcome of narrow arbitration might require the Government to commit additional funding above and beyond the so-called "package".
Federation Executive met in the early afternoon and reaffirmed the decisions to strike for 24 hours on May 4 and on the withdrawal of goodwill saying the "responsibility for this disruption rests squarely with the Carr Labor Government which has rejected the Federation’s proposal which would have resolved the long running salaries dispute".
The strike would "focus on pay equity and parity for casual school teachers, respect for teacher professionalism, no increased workload for teachers and no salary discounting".
"As a result of the Government’s failure to satisfactorily resolve its dispute with the teaching profession and its continuing exploitation of teacher goodwill, the teaching profession will now withdraw its goodwill. Teachers will only complete work associated with their ‘normal’ timetabled classes through preparation, delivery, marking and feedback. Only compulsory excursions to meet syllabus requirements will take place. Because many parents and students have already incurred significant costs the Pacific School Games will be exempted where school staffs or individual members seek such exemptions."
This decision by Executive was reported to Deputy President Sams at 2.15pm on Monday May 1 and at 12.30pm on Wednesday May 3.
Deputy President Sams issued the certificate that concluded his conciliation regarding the May 4 strike. He also issued dispute orders against the Federation at 3.20pm. The dispute orders were:
"Pursuant to s137 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, the Commission orders that:
"1. The NSW Teachers Federation cease or refrain from taking industrial action of the following kind:
"a) a twenty-four hour strike by its members on 4 May 2000;
"b) any further strikes by its members;
"c) any practice relating to the performance of work by its members that restricts, limits or delays the performance of work;
"d) any ban, limitation or restriction affecting the performance of work by its members, at or in relation to:
"i) any public school of whatever kind carried on by the Department of Education and Training in the state of NSW;
"ii) any educational facility of whatever kind carried on by the NSW Technical and Further Education Commission ("TAFE") or where TAFE provides services in the state of NSW.
"2. The NSW Teachers Federation take all steps reasonably practical to advise its members of these orders by 4pm on 3 May, 2000.
"3. These orders to take effect at 3pm on 3 May 2000 and in respect to 1(a) shall remain in force for a period of forty-eight (48) hours and in respect to (b), (c)and (d) shall remain in force for twenty-eight (28) days or until further order of the Commission."
Consistent with point 2, above, Federation faxed the dispute orders to all work sites that Wednesday afternoon (the day before the strike) in Special Salaries Bulletin No 14.
Along with the dispute orders, Deputy President Sams made strong criticism of the Federation leadership. Federation has made it clear that attacks on the Federation’s democratic processes and continued denial of the unity, anger and determination of the teaching profession does nothing toward resolving the dispute.
In response to the dispute orders, the Executive on Wednesday evening (May 3) decided that the decision on the withdrawal of teacher goodwill would not be implemented. (See separate story.)
At the time of writing, the Government’s position in the Industrial Relations Commission is that the April 12 offer is withdrawn. However, the Minister has been quoted in the media indicating that the offer has not lapsed. They will be seeking that the matter be resolved by arbitration of a revised award application which they are yet to submit. The union understands their position to be that in an arbitration the total amount of money (which they say is $1.8 billion, or equivalent to 16 per cent) must not be exceeded. It is DET’s view that this would have the effect that permanent teachers salary increases would be discounted in order to fund salary justice for casual teachers.