#1
Teachers endorse further action
SYDNEY — On June 2, 98% of teachers at Sky Channel-linked meetings across NSW voted in favour of further industrial action if the state government fails to fund a salaries increase from outside the existing education budget.
If the 5.5% pay increase ordered by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission is paid out of the education budget, it will result in an erosion of working conditions which will profoundly affect students' learning and teachers' capacity to teach effectively.
The conditions that teachers are most concerned with are class sizes, staffing quotas, support programs, general maintenance and textbook provision.
The Activist Teachers Network has proposed that rolling strikes of up to two hours during the week of the budget (June 20-25) be implemented in order to allow teachers in rural areas to visit their local ALP MPs. The ATN also proposes that a Sydney-based 24-hour strike be called for June 25, with a mass rally outside NSW parliament.
Noreen Navin
HECS hike sparks student action
DARWIN — On May 26, students and staff at Charles Darwin University were greeted with the news that the administration had voted the previous week to increase HECS fees over the next three years. The decision was made public only after the minutes of the council meeting were leaked to the local NT News.
The following day, around 60 students and staff gathered for a speak-out on the campus, organised by the student union, which announced the launch of a "fee freeze" campaign. The decision by the uni has also sparked activists on the campus to begin organising an education activist collective.
Any students or staff interested in getting involved can email <education_action@yahoo.com.au>.
Kathy Newnam
Government waters down anti-violence campaign
Women's rights organisations and service providers have condemned the federal government's new anti-violence campaign, which is designed to replace the shelved $12 million "No Respect — No Relationship" campaign.
The Women's Services Network (WESNET), a national peak body of women's refuges and services for women and children facing domestic violence, claims that the Coalition government has produced a watered-down version of the original campaign's hard-hitting message.
On May 31 WESNET's national chair Maria Hagias said that the federal government has, "during the development of this campaign, ignored and bypassed the knowledge and expertise which already exists in the domestic and family violence sector, and has scandalously wasted millions of dollars in cancellation fees and campaign materials that are no longer being used — all whilst women and children are being turned away on a daily basis from women's refuges because they are full".
Kerryn Williams
Nurses accept pay offer
ADELAIDE — A pay rise of 16.5% over three years plus commitment to fund an extra 460 nurses in South Australian public hospitals has been accepted by the Australian Nursing Federation.
After rolling industrial action by the ANF over the past two weeks, the state government boosted its initial offer of 15%. While short of the 22% claim, the pay rise is supplemented by additional allowances to attract and retain nurses, cash incentives for remote and rural areas, a standard 10 hour night shift and eight weeks' paid maternity leave.
Melanie Sjoberg
From Green Left Weekly, June 9, 2004.
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