NSW: Teachers down books for second time this week

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-1999
NSW: Teachers down books for second time this week

SYDNEY, Dec 1 AAP - Teachers across New South Wales this morning downed books for the
second time this week as part of an industrial campaign for more pay.

The two-hour stop work is one of three stoppages this week and comes after a month
of interrupted classes at state schools and TAFE colleges.

Teachers walked off the job for two hours on Monday and plan to down books for two
hours on Friday, when they will vote on whether to continue their action.

The ongoing stoppages come after the state's 50,000 teachers rejected a government
pay offer of up to 9.6 per cent over four years.

But the NSW Teachers' Federation said under the complex teaching pay scale the offer
translated to a rise of less than four per cent for most teachers.

During this morning's stoppage, teachers rallied outside the western Sydney office
of Education Minister John Aquilina, demanding he withdraw the pay offer.

Federation spokesman Angelo Gavrielatos said the dispute was not only about a pay rise,
but also about the future of public education.

"It is essential that the discredited document is withdrawn and an interim payment
made so that genuine negotiations can commence," Mr Gavrielatos said in a statement.

"These negotiations must address the major issues facing education in the 21st century,
including the need to ensure new graduates are attracted into the profession to maintain
the high quality of teaching in NSW."

Two weeks ago, up to 20,000 teachers protested outside Parliament House in Sydney demanding
the government scrap the pay offer and return to the negotiation table.

AAP nd/tsm/apm

KEYWORD: TEACHERS (CARRIED EARLIER)

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