Education workers in first major national action

Vanguard June 2010 p. 11
Louisa L. and Nick G.

The awareness and unity amongst education workers was lifted to a new level with the first-ever nationally coordinated action, directed against league tables and the tests used to produce them.

The Australian Constitution does not identify education as a federal responsibility so it has long been regarded as a State and Territory matter. With the “coercive” federalism of Howard and Rudd, Commonwealth funding to the states has become a lever for imposing federal dictates upon the States and territories.

In terms of national development this has a positive side, but the manner and content of federal “reforms” has forced education workers to take a national perspective on attacks on public education. This is even more positive.

However, the legacy of State and Territory agencies as the employing bodies created some problems in maintaining the unity required to deliver a decisive blow to Gillard over league tables. Some AEU branches and affiliates remain under State awards, while the two Territories and Victoria are under the Federal FairWork Australia Act, meaning that employer and commission responses were different from place to place.

More should have been done by teachers in the Catholic and private school sectors who are also opposed to league tables through their union, the IEU. Regrettably, the IEU did not match its rhetoric with action; indeed, it white-anted the moratorium by publicly praising the “professionalism” of its members who were directed to conduct the NAPLAN tests. Nevertheless, the IEU was quick to accept a position on the ACARA sub-committee won by the AEU moratorium.

New South Wales
New South Wales teachers faced the most savage attacks by the various State and Territory education departments. There was never any doubt that the NSW Teachers Federation was financially able to withstand savage fines which were likely to be around $70,000 per week. It also had recent and very bitter experience with another working party with the state ALP government which promised a TAFE salaries agreement with minor trade offs, but went on to absolutely hammer the working conditions of TAFE teachers.

The NSW Director General of Education and Training, Michael Coutts-Trotter, is the husband of Federal Minister Tania Pleibersek and an ex-heroin pusher once sentenced to a significant gaol term. He reckoned the league tables were terrible, but then tried to crush anyone who tried to stop them.

With his deputy Trevor Fletcher (a veteran of Kennett's attacks on Victorian teacher unions) he inflicted daily threats on principals and teachers that they would not be promoted, could be fined $3000, would be stood down, and could face the sack and more.

Now Coutts-Trotter has sent a letter to every teacher threatening that if they took similar action again they would personally be pursued under the law.

His School Education Directors, whose jobs had also been threatened if they failed to 'deliver' their schools, were the conduit.

Principals of disadvantaged schools were told their school would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal funding. Schools and their principals were listed as from A to E depending on their position on the moratorium. Most who supported the moratorium were told “everyone else is doing it” and “you must be a 'red' school” (significantly below average).

Unable to get parents to scab, the DET emailed and texted all casuals and retired teachers, as well as trawling through other departmental and other government employees.

Shock horror headlines appeared as the Federation pointed out that these people would not be welcomed and would be entering a “hostile environment”. The accusations of union bullying were soon countered as the Director General publicly threatened to sack principals. Seeing him backpedalling all the way to his Bridge Street headquarters was a joy to behold.

Then came the coup de gras – Federation discovered that the Department had contracted agencies to employ backpackers. Why this was necessary when the Department line was that “in the overwhelming majority of NSW schools NAPLAN would take place” apparently remained a mystery.

When the principal of the school that topped last year's NAPLAN went public with other selective high school principals in support of the moratorium it seemed like game over for Gillard in NSW high schools, though many primary schools were going ahead with the tests.

NAPLAN test boxes were seized in raids by Department officers and the Director-General began booking halls for alternative test sites. Fat chance!

While some teachers were relieved, there was an overwhelming sense of disappointment amongst most who had held the line. In many cases they had already put their necks on the chopping block. It will be a difficult job to prove victimisation if a teacher is denied a promotion, and that is clearly indicated in Trevor Fletcher's congratulations to those “who have demonstrated substantial leadership” for supporting NAPLAN.

Fletcher is crowing now, but teachers, their union and their allies are quite capable of turning him into roast chook.

Other states
Personal fines of up to $6600 for teachers and $33000 for union officials were threatened against members covered by Gillard’s FairWork Australia Act in Victoria, NT and ACT.

In South Australia orders were sought by the Education Department against the AEU on Monday 3rd May.

The AEU put up a spirited argument that this was a professional stand, not industrial action, and that it accorded with custom and practice in SA where individual teachers have long had the right to be assigned other work, and not supervise their classes, when Basic Skills Tests were being done. After three days, the SA IRC still had not issued orders and convened the parties on Thursday to cease deliberations, given the lifting of the moratorium.

In Queensland the moratorium was strong, and even some private schools joined. The Queensland Teachers' Union stepped forward despite a traditionally close relationship with the Labor Party. By the Wednesday night they too had agreed to call off the moratorium.

Western Australia, with a largely casualised workforce, had the most difficulty maintaining the moratorium and were the first to say they couldn't continue, while Tasmania would have found it difficult to stand up against threatened fines without the backing of full backing of the AEU.

National organisation must be strengthened
Even acknowledging the different circumstances facing teachers in each of the states and territories, it is understandable that some in the stronger centres felt disappointed that the moratorium was called off before final victory had been won.

“I feel a bit like the Grand Old Duke of York, who had 10,000 men - we marched them up to the top of the hill and we marched them down again,” commented one official contacted by Vanguard.

While the AEU will do its best to counter league tables and change the My School website through the ACARA sub-committee, the real imperative will be to strengthen the national organisation of public education workers so as to ensure their ability to fight at the federal level from where educational policy will increasingly emanate.