SSTUWA Statement [6 June 2008]

It is somewhat ironic that the Western Australian Government has selected the anniversary of D-Day (June 6th) to launch its most vitriolic attack ever on educators and education in Western Australia.

The Carpenter Government, like Pontius Pilate, has washed its hands of responsibility for negotiating on issues like fair salaries, workload, class sizes, planning and preparation time and behaviour management issues – and handed it over to the WAIRC.

Today’s decision means that all of the conditions of employment won over the years by teachers can be scrapped – and every item in the current EBA is up for grabs. The Government has also created for itself a way to introduce new issues not included in previous EBAs and not previously discussed or even disclosed.

The State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia is holding an emergency meeting of its Executive today - and will bring the issue before its full State Council this weekend. Union officials are also in discussion with their lawyers.

The Union plans to campaign vigorously in our schools, colleges and community to highlight the crisis the intransigence of the Government has caused through being unresponsive and irresponsible towards educators and our education system.

Today is a sad day for teachers, students and the community that is Western Australia.

© The Joondalup Weekender [25 July 2008]



© The Joondalup Weekender [14 June 2008]

The teachers’ proposed pay deal has suffered another blow, with principals’ groups assaying school leaders would be among the losers in the agreement struck with the State Government.
from School heads the ‘losers’ in teachers’ deal
The West Australian, 5 August 2008

The teachers’ proposed pay deal was on the brink of collapse yesterday, with almost half the union’s governing body breaking ranks to reveal they do not support the agreement struck with the State Government last week.
from Teacher pay deal faces collapse
The West Australian, 2 August 2008

Teachers who emerged from a union forum last night claimed support was growing for a “no” vote against the State Government’s latest pay offer.
from Teachers’ pay deal ‘is in trouble’ as revolt brews
The West Australian, 31 July 2008

Teachers at 22 schools are threatening wildcat strikes as opposition mounts against the pay deal between the State Government and the union announced this week. In what is shaping as a major embarrassment for the State Government, union activist and spokesman for education watchdog PLATO Marko Vojkovic said  last nigh the deal was grossly inadequate and some teachers would take a pay cut.
from Teachers eye wildcat strikes
The West Australian, 25 July 2008

Mr Vojkovic said the Government's offer was nowhere near enough, and Perth Modern School union members had unanimously voted to consider strikes, as had 21 other school union branches.
from 22 schools consider wildcat strikes over pay offer
The Sunday Times online / PerthNow, 24 July

Extensive news coverage of the latest government pay offer
Week of 21 July

Education Department Deputy Director-General of Schools Margery Evans said as of noon on Friday, there were 79 full-time and 25 part-time teaching vacancies.
from WA schools 104 teachers short
The Sunday Times, 20 July 2008

The Council’s accreditation of its own courses is a bit like letting mining companies set their own environmental impact requirements [or putting the fox in charge of the henhouse].
from Don’t implement courses that aren’t ready, says retired academic,
by Steve Kessell, 19 July 2008

Excellent Tony Rutherford Op Ed on the appalling state of WA public education:
from Education goes from impasse to paralysis
The West Australian, 16 July 2008

School hunt costs packet
More than $330,000 has been spent by the State Government on recruitment agencies since January to find just 32 teachers.
The Sunday Times, 6 July 2008

Little Monsters Rule
Teachers at Mandurah High School are being punched and sworn at, and students are being sent from classrooms in droves, according to an employee who posted comments on the internet.
The Mandurah Coastal Times, 5 July 2008

600 attacks on teachers, staff
Teachers and other school staff were assaulted or abused more than 600 times in WA State schools in the past year, fresh figures have revealed.
The West Australian, 5 July 2008

IRC tells union to lift Year 11 course bans...
Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood said all new courses, including history, biological sciences, physics and literature, would be the only approved courses and there were no alternatives...
protesting teachers and civil servants were threatened with arrest...
PLATO News Archive, 28 June 2008

Standard of initial teacher education programs
WACOT  20 June 2008

Extensive coverage of the Twomey Report
18-19 June 2008

Op Ed: Education revolution, Kev? It’s a rebellion
Foul language, threats, schoolyard fights, appalling ignorance…handling a classroom is just an exercise in behaviour management, writes teacher Katherine Summers.
The West Australian, 14 June 2008

Extensive media coverage of the union-imposed "sanctions"
Week of 9 June 2008

WAIRC sends EBA to arbitration
Extensive media coverage, 6-7 June 2008

"Double teachers' salaries": Business Council of Australia
Extensive media coverage, Week of 26 May 2008

Multiple articles on the NSW teachers' strike
The Sydney Morning Herald, 21-22 May 2008

IRC orders teachers' union to find 'leaker'
WA's industrial umpire has told the teachers' union to conduct a witch-hunt into who leaked confidential information about overcrowding in the State's classrooms, State School Teachers Union president Anne Gisborne said last night.
The West Australian, 20 May 2008

[Victorian] Teacher wage rise 'slap in face'
Victorian public school teachers who were told they would become "the best paid in Australia" in a new pay deal are vowing to reject the offer after discovering that many would still get $13,000 less than their NSW counterparts.
The Sunday Age, 18 May 2008

Op Ed: Ticking off the teacher fails sound policy test
It would be interesting to know whether it has occurred to the top Education Department bureaucrats that their sometimes anachronistically authoritarian management style could contribute to the evidently worsening teacher shortage.
The West Australian, 17 May 2008

Primary school classes overflow
More than half of WA's State primary schools have classes with too many students, leaked documents from the Department of Education and Training have revealed.
The West Australian, 17 May 2008

Teachers consider two-day strike as pay campaign hits stalemate
State schools could close for up to two days if teachers back the most extreme form of industrial action being canvassed by their union.
The West Australian, 16 May 2008

Teachers test the mood for strike
Parents are facing the prospect of teacher strikes over the next fortnight as the teachers' union prepares to canvass its members to gauge whether strike action will be the next step in its pay dispute with the State Government.
The West Australian, 12 May 2008

Teacher pay row worsens
WA Education Minister Mark McGowan has signalled that teachers will struggle to get paid more than the offer they previously rejected.
The Sunday Times, 11 May 2008

Angry teachers slam pay deal
Victoria's powerful education union and the State Government are facing a backlash from angry teachers who say they were "screwed over" in this week's $2 billion wage deal.
[plus some excellent Letters to the Editor]
The Age, 7 May 2008

[Vic teachers'] Wage increase can't flow on: Gillard
The Rudd Government has cautioned unions against trying to spread big pay rises for teachers and other public servants from state to state, as pressure mounts to match wage standards in the private sector.
[plus some more good Letters to the Editor]
The Australian, 7 May 2008

Extensive media coverage of
The Victorian teacher pay offer
6 May 2008

Union fined $1500 by IRC
Stories on ABC News and The West Australian [2-3 May]

Teachers tax the public's sympathy
Schoolteachers deserve at least some level of sympathy from the community. Over the years, the status of the profession has dwindled and its comparative level of pay has dropped. Disruptive students and increasing workloads have added to teachers' woes... But teachers, led by their unions, have a way of diminishing their respect in the community. The State School Teachers Union has banned its members from implementing the first national literacy and numeracy tests...
The West Australian Editorial, 2 May 2008

Three very good Letters to the Editor on the Twomey Report.
The West Australian, 29 April 2008

Teachers angry as McGowan hides report
Education Minister Mark McGowan came under renewed pressure yesterday to release a five-month-old report hailed as the solution to WA's alarming teacher shortage after he revealed Cabinet had not yet considered the tax payer-funded review.
The West Australian, 26 April 2008

Teacher shortage may hit 2000
Education Minister Mark McGowan has warned that the school system faces a shortage of more than 2000 teachers within seven years and used the forecast to
attack a push by State schoolteachers for better conditions, saying it would only exacerbate the problem.
The West Australian, 25 April 2008

Pay more to help teacher shortage: academic
The Dean of Education at the University of Western Australia says he is not surprised at projections showing WA will be more than 2,000 teachers short in the next seven years... "Right across the country employers are going to need to pay teachers more. Pay's not the reason why people join teaching but you can't expect people to join the profession when they see it as poorly paid." [Prof Louden said]
ABC News, 25 April 2008

Teachers get serious against State Government
Teachers will launch a campaign against the Carpenter Government - to damage Labor's chances of re-election. In about three weeks, hundreds of teachers will doorknock and letter-drop in marginal seats to tell voters "the truth'' about the Government's lack of commitment to public education, says the State School Teachers Union.
The Sunday Times, 20 April 2008

Teacher assaults up 23pc in WA schools
Nearly three teachers and other staff are assaulted by students each day in Western Australian schools, with reported attacks jumping by 23 per cent on last year.
The Sunday Times, 13 April 2008

Teacher pay row risks new courses
Teachers have threatened to ban the implementation of more than 30 Year 11 courses due to start next year if the State Government does not produce a satisfactory pay offer by the end of June.
The West Australian, 11 April 2008

DET and SSTUWA Media Statements on the EBA going to arbitration [10 April]

Media coverage of the Parliament House Rally
8 April 2008     9 April 2008

Post-Rally Forum Discussion Thread

Dear Minister

Rally Posters and Handouts


Fourfold increase in teachers’ quit rate adds to shortage fears
“Teachers have been beaten from pillar to post for the last six years with constant change . . . so people are leaving in droves. They feel undervalued, they feel disempowered and as a direct result of that they are leaving the profession.”: Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier
The West Australian, 5 April 2008

Teachers Union faces deregistration for defying IRC
The Industrial Relations Commission has indicated the State School Teachers Union (SSTU) is likely to be fined or face deregistration for what has been described as a serious breach of an order to call off a stop work meeting.
ABC News, 27 March 2008
Similar article in The West Australian, 28 March 2008

[NT] Teachers confirm strike, call Govt's offer 'an insult'
The Territory's Education Union says teachers will go on strike on Monday. The executive has met today to decide if they should push ahead with industrial action. The union says teachers will strike from from 10.15am to 2.15pm. The union is pushing for a 15 per cent pay rise over three years.
Channel 7 National News, 27 March 2008

Teachers' pay push to target ministers
The teachers' union will intensify its battle for better pay this week when dozens of members rally outside the electorate offices of key State Government ministers.
The West Australian, 25 March 2008

One battle is won but the accountability war goes on
Education Minister Mark McGowan continues his astounding pig-headedness over the report by the Twomey taskforce into teacher shortages in WA. The report was delivered to him last December, yet he refuses to release it... If the Minister's refusal to release the report is linked to the WA State School Teachers Union campaign for better wages and conditions, he is to be further condemned. The Government is right to be concerned about the effect of pay rises in the public sector but there is no justification in commissioning and paying for a report and then refusing to release it for fear that its contents may not accord with the Government's case.
The West Australian Editorial, 24 March 2008

Comment: Confidentiality breeds contempt
It is becoming increasingly clear the reason Mr. McGowan is keeping the Twomey report secret is because it is likely to recommend pay increases and better conditions for teachers at the same time the Government is desperately trying to keep a lid on the salary rises they are demanding.
The West Australian, 22 March 2008

$480,000 teacher report a secret
The Opposition and the teachers' union has accused the Government of sitting on the [Twomey] report because it is likely to recommend significant pay rises and better conditions for the profession.
The West Australian, 22 March 2008

Pay more attention to education: Teachers Union
The State School Teachers Union (SSTU) says a survey which shows more than 50 per cent of people think the government has failed in the education portfolio should be a wake up call.
ABC News, 21 March 2008

Government gets poor report card on health, education
There has also been a big increase in the level of dissatisfaction with the Government's performance in Education, with 50 per cent describing it as being either poor or very poor.
ABC News, 20 March 2008

Teachers bid for strike option
Parents are facing the prospect of more teacher strikes, with the teachers’ union preparing to appeal against an order by the WA Industrial Relations Commission which banned it from holding any further stop-work meetings.
The West Australian, 18 March 2008

Kambalda teachers angry over pay ad
Teachers in Kambalda say they considered walking off the job yesterday over an Education Department advertisement which they say was misleading.
ABC News: Goldfields / Esperance

Minister digs in on teachers' pay
The State Government appears unwilling to budge on its pay offer to teachers and has virtually ruled out cutting class sizes and increasing time away from the classroom for teachers, in a sign the deadlock in negotiations with the State School Teachers Union is far from over.
The West Australian, 10 March 2008

Teachers face new hearing
The State School Teachers Union will appear in the WA Industrial Relations Commission again on Tuesday to answer allegations that it defied the commission's order to call off its half-day strike just over a week ago.
The West Australian, 8 March 2008

Teachers pay adverts a misleading waste: union
The teachers' union has attacked the State Government for wasting thousands of taxpayers' dollars on advertisements promoting a pay offer it says is inadequate because it could still leave WA teachers behind their counterparts in NSW in three years.
The West Australian, 5 March 2008

Tony Rutherford Op Ed: Rudd take on education may succeed
The Government has, as usual, addressed the problem with its usual mixture of bluster and disinformation. The Minister's insistence on using the pay rates for senior teachers as a bench mark of his Government's generosity is either ignorant or deliberately misleading - what proportion of teachers does that category include? One in eight, say, or one in 10? We should be told.
The West Australian, 5 March 2008

Ten excellent Letters to the Editor supporting the teachers' pay claim.
The West Australian, 4 March 2008

More than half of WA’s newly qualified teachers plan to leave the public system within the next 10 years because of concerns over poor pay and heavy workloads, a new survey has found.
from Graduate teachers most likely to resign
The West Australian, 4 March 2008

The West Australian News Blog:
Did you support the strike?

If the Education Department is to attract professionals to state schools, it needs to offer an attractive career with competitive pay and conditions. If we neglect our public schools, an exodus of teachers from the state system will ultimately diminish the standard of education delivered.
from The Stirling Times Editorial, Week of 3 March 2008

You have stirred a sleeping giant
You are the architect of this crisis, Mr Premier. Teaching is not an attractive career for young people. Despite your obvious reservations about the strengths of State schoolteachers, we have done something right.
from Christine Kelly's Letter to the Editor
The West Australian, 1 March 2008

Teachers' strike a disservice to State education
The State School Teachers Union did a serious disservice to the standing of teaching and public schools by striking in defiance of a WA Industrial Relations Commission ruling.
The West Australian Editorial, 1 March 2008

Teachers emergency meeting
Ms Gisborne said a pay negotiation meeting with the department scheduled for tomorrow would not be held because of the need to deal with the commission matters. She expected such a meeting would be re-scheduled for later in the week because the commission had asked that negotiations progress before both parties return to the commission on Friday.
The Sunday Times Online / PerthNow, 26 February 2008

Teachers undecided about Thursday strike
Parents of the public school students in Western Australia will not find out until tomorrow afternoon whether they should send their children to school on Thursday.
ABC News, 26 February 2008

Teachers may defy IR Commission: union
The State School Teachers Union says its members may defy an order by the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission to cancel a stop work meeting planned for Thursday.
ABC News, 26 February 2008

Teachers told to call off strike
The State Schools Teachers' Union could face deregulation if it pushes ahead with industrial action after the WA Industrial Relations Commission last night ordered the union to call off its half-day strike planned for Thursday.
The West Australian, 26 February 2008

Threat to stop teacher talks
WA Education Minister Mark McGowan has threatened to immediately freeze pay negotiations with the teachers' union ahead of a planned half-day strike on Thursday. Mr. McGowan said if the Industrial Relations Commission ruling, due by tomorrow, said the teachers should not stop work, but the State School Teachers' Union decided to do so anyway, a negotiation meeting scheduled for Wednesday would be "reconsidered"...
Teachers' Union president Anne Gisborne would not say yesterday if the union might back down on its directive to strike. [emphasis added] She said it would be unfortunate if the Government stopped negotiations because the union wanted them to proceed.
The Sunday Times, 24 February 2008

IRC hearing fails to avert teachers' industrial action
The State Schools Teachers Union in Western Australia has vowed to push ahead with planned industrial action next week.
ABC News, 22 February 2008

Teachers to strike for half a day
Parents have been warned to keep their children at home on Thursday as thousands of State schoolteachers across WA walk off the job for half a day as part of a campaign for higher pay.
The West Australian, 22 February 2008

Teachers strike to become nation's highest paid
West Australian teachers will strike for half a day next week as part of a push to become the nation's highest paid teachers.
The Sunday Times Online / PerthNow, 21 February 2008

Teachers to stop work next week to push pay claim
Public school teachers across the state have been directed by their union to stop work next week as part of their union's pay campaign.
ABC News, 21 February 2008

Government urged to offer teachers significant salary increase
"The government is flush with funds and the minister should offer teachers what they deserve, and that is a significant across-the-board salary increase," [Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier] said.
ABC News, 4 February 2008

Teachers pay row looms over school start
State school pupils face an uncertain start to the academic year on Monday after the teachers' union chief refused to set a date by which it would ramp up industrial action if the State Government did not meet its demands for higher pay.
The West Australian, 2 February 2008

11th hour bid to strike new pay deal for teachers
The State School Teachers Union is returning to the negotiating table today to try to strike a new pay offer.
The union has already rejected two offers from the Education Department, saying a 13 per cent rise over four years is insufficient.
Most public students return to school on Monday, but teachers are refusing to participate in after school activities and they are not ruling out further industrial action if negotiations stall.
ABC News, 1 February 2008

Source: DET Report WA Teacher Demand and Supply Projections