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What does the Government want before it will settle?
BRENDA SEYMOUR looks at their version of a package, largely unchanged from that reported to the April 14 Sky Channel.
- There be no GST clause.
- For four and possibly five calendar years to December 2004, teachers would implement all known and all new (unknown) requirements that come forward for the School Certificate, the HSC, Basic Skills Tests, the ELLA test, annual school reports, school self evaluation and improvement, School Development Policy, the Secondary Numeracy Program and procedures for teachers experiencing difficulties.
- Teachers to take no industrial action around the same or make any claims to improve their working conditions arising out of the development of any of the above over five calendar years.
- All teachers, including highly experienced teachers, be under constant surveillance in their classrooms, and their lesson plans scrutinised to determine if their salary will be frozen or progress each year.
- All teachers of years 11 and 12 to be programmed to teach in schools and TAFE without their agreement or even consultation with them. This teaching to be between 7.30 am and 5.30 pm with no account of split shifts.
- Teachers, other than those who teach years 11 and 12, would, with their agreement, but with no guarantee of entitlements to after hours award provisions, teach in TAFE colleges and in schools after hours. This would apply to school teachers in TAFE and TAFE teachers in schools.
- TAFE teachers would work three hours extra a week.
- TAFE teachers get less than school teachers, 14.35 percent instead of 16 percent over four or five calendar years when the last TAFE salary increase was July 1, 1998.
- There would be no guaranteed improvements for 12,000 TAFE part-time/casuals teachers.
- All casual teachers miss out on back pay.
- For 29,000 school casuals there would be a loss in rates of pay and conditions for fractional school casual teachers who work over blocks of time on application of a single daily rate of pay.
- A single daily rate of pay would apply for casual school teachers which is less than the current maximum rate received by casual school teachers and with all conditions abolished.
- For fixed term contracts there would be no automatic salary progression. Most casual teachers’ service clocks would be wound back, receiving no credit for casual days worked in the past. They would have to work 205 days to progress each step, beyond step 8 of the salary scale.
- There would be no award industry standard provisions to stop abuse of fixed term contracts.
- Federation award applications before the Industrial Relations Commission to improve the work of casual and part-time teachers would be discontinued.
- An agreement go to December 2003 which, on the Government’s record, is likely to become December 2004 before a subsequent award is put in place.
- No improvements in working conditions at all to be sought over five years.
Brenda Seymour is the Assistant General Secretary (Research and Industrial).