Teachers stop work in Victoria
By Mary Merkenich
MELBOURNE —Victorian Australian Education Union (AEU) members struck on May 27 as part of a campaign the AEU has been waging to win a certified agreement with the state government and to get the government to invest in state education.
About 5000 teachers attended a mass meeting here, while country meetings were held simultaneously.
AEU members have been demanding:
- a reduction in class sizes;
- an increase in teacher and allied staff numbers;
- adequate school funding;
- a reduction of contract teaching;
- access to ongoing employment and career opportunities;
- decent salaries.
Many parents are aware of the crisis in state education and the very difficult working conditions teachers have. Sympathy for an improvement is widespread.
Despite this, many teachers have lost faith in their ability to improve the situation. Poor attendance at the stop-work meeting was a reflection of this dangerous trend.
Many in the AEU put the blame squarely on the leadership. A half-hearted industrial campaign, which has lacked a consistent and militant momentum and relied heavily on school-based action (when the vast majority of school AEU sub-branches don't function properly, if they even exist), has deepened feelings of powerlessness.
A united statewide campaign could have cut through some of the isolation most union members feel.
Presently the threat of self-governing schools looms large, as does the possibility that face to face teaching time could be increased after the Arbitration Commission begins its deliberations on the teaching award in July.
If self-governing schools become reality, introduction of Australian workplace agreements seems very likely, which means all teachers could be forced onto contracts.
At the same time, the AEU leadership has wound down the industrial campaign. It sees TV and other advertising as the way forward.
It appears to have chosen the path of hoping that the ALP will win the next state elections. One speaker summed up the dangers in this strategy: 1. what happens if the ALP does not win? 2. what happens if the ALP does win? 3. what happens in the meantime, which could be as long as two years?