As voting concludes today in the battle for leadership of the Tasmanian teachers’ union (the AEU), questions are being raised about the nature of the relationship between the union’s current president, Leanne Wright, and the state government.
A recent article on Tasmanian Times referred to an email circulated by an AEU member highly critical of the union president Leanne Wright, and in particular her dealings with government on matters pertaining to Teachers Union members. (HERE)
The e-mail’s author said of Wright:
“In dealing with the Department of Education and the Minister, Leanne (Wright) has made a real effort to work co-operatively. Their response has been to walk away.”
The above statement says it all! There has been TOO much cooperation from the outset, with no understanding of how the machinations of government work. They have consistently walked away because they have been allowed to. Governments who are implementing THEIR ideas don’t want to change their plans, or cooperate with a union. The time for working cooperatively should have ceased early this year. There has been too little strategic AEU leadership, and what little there has been, has been too late: or maybe not too late for a re-election campaign?”
Further concerns have emerged about the relationship between the union’s president and the government.
These have been generated by the response of Wright (via her state manager Chris Lane) to representations by the Education Minister’s office to her over a media report claiming the union was set to campaign against the state Labor government in the run up to the state election.
The item run by the ABC last week reported on a position taken by the Post Year 10 sector of the union:
(HERE)
The news report followed meetings of the union bodies representing teachers and staff affected by the Tasmania Tomorrow reforms – the TAFE Section Executive and Senior Secondary Colleges Committee of Management (SSCOM).
These meetings had carried resolutions that members would continue an industrial campaign and would campaign against the state government in the run up to the state elections because of its handling of the reforms.
Tasmanian Times has learned that the Minister’s office subsequently contacted the teachers’ union president, Leanne Wright, in response to the news report.
In what can at best be characterised as a curious move, the teacher’s union state manager Chris Lane circulated the following email to the union’s executive and council members:
“Dear Executive/Councillors
Attached is a media release that has been drawn to the attention of Leanne (Wright) by the Minister’s Office.
This IS NOT the official position of the AEU. The official Union position is as determined by Council at its meeting on 13 November. After discussing the notion of a campaign against the Government’s re-election, the Council decided on the following:
“That Branch Council of the AEU highlights the anger of members at the Bartlett Government’s behaviour regarding Elizabeth College as expressed in the motions voted on at stop work meetings in schools.
The AEU Council puts the Bartlett Government on notice that it expects the following standards of behaviour and decision making:
1. Standing by commitments made.
2. Genuinely listening to AEU members and engaging in good faith consultation.
3. Taking seriously matters that affect the health, wellbeing and safety of our members.
4. Dealing with our members without duress.
5. Recognising the AEU’s capacity to be a legitimate voice in expressing the needs and interests of students.
These expectations are also a message to all Tasmanian political parties. The AEU will now audit the Bartlett Government’s commitments made to the Union and will publicly hold them to account in meeting those commitments from now until the election. The support of AEU members for any political party should not be taken for ganted.” CARRIED Unanimously
“That the Union assesses all education policies of State political parties and inform members of their positions by providing members with a report card.” CARRIED
This then is the official position of the Union.
[signed] (on behalf of Chris Lane, State Manager)”
The response is curious because it is difficult to read into the resolutions referred to, anything other than a threat – if not a commitment – to campaign against the state labor government in the lead up to the 2010 election.
However, rather than defending or clarifying the statements by the Post Year 10 members’ representatives and, apparently, the wishes of the union’s Post Year 10 section members, it appears that the union hierarchy was scrambling to placate the Minister’s office.
The AEU manager’s email is made more curious in light of correspondence received by Tasmanian Times which shows that the position taken by the TAFE and Colleges representatives, (which came after the meeting of the union’s council), contradicts the views circulated by the union’s state manager.
In an email to union members, the union’s Secondary Colleges section President Greg Brown confirmed that the ABC media report was an accurate reflection of the position taken by the sector’s representative body. In his email Greg Brown said:
“Just so you all know and to clear this up. The ABC media release represents the official position of the TAFE Division Executive and SCCOM as determined at last night’s combined meeting.
The mandate for this has come from the 3 statewide, combined PY10 meetings in which 92% of the 600+ members who attended supported the direction we have taken.
Unfortunately I was not able to attend state council last Friday. I am disappointed that the AEU has once again moved from a position of strength and passed such an impotent motion as the first one listed below. Heavens above. We have just had 160 odd stop work meetings around the state. Thousands of members were prepared to take action.
No wonder we are getting nowhere on Inclusion, Behaviour management, SARIS etc etc.
Greg Brown
AEU President
Secondary College Sector”
A further, an email circulated by the TAFE section President, Ross Dale, in response to the union manager’s email also challenges the manager’s statements, and calls into question the appropriateness of the relationship between the union’s president and the government. In his email, Ross Dale’s said:
“I have been mulling over the content of the email below in terms of it being the official position for the AEU. Unfortunately as usual there is a muddling of what is going on.
There are two issues occurring at the present time with PY10.
The first issue is holding the Premier to honouring his commitment to Elizabeth College of remaining outside of Tasmania Tomorrow until Jan 2011. That was the issue that the K to 10 held stopwork meetings over and what they voted on. It also was the issue that Branch Council voted on and is the Branch Council’s position on trying to make the premier honour his commitment to Elizabeth College.
The second issue is implementing the 5 motions that were carried at the Post Year 10 stopwork meetings around the state. Those motions included the rolling back of Tasmania Tomorrow structure”.
He goes on to confirm Greg Brown’s account of the motions carried by post year 10 sector representatives, saying;
“Last night the TAFE Division Executive and Secondary Colleges Committee of Management held a joint teleconference meeting to decide the strategies and direction that will be taken to achieve the intentions of those 5 motions.
This teleconference meeting was not only at the behest of the TAFE Exec and SSCOM but also persistent requests from the State Manager and Branch President and has taken a little while to happen.
If what is claimed in the below email that the AEU’s official position on PY10 was decided at Branch Council why would we have bothered to have held last night’s meeting and why has the SM and BP as recently as the last Officers meeting on Monday been requesting the TAFE Exec and SSCOM to meet and to decide on its future industrial actions to achieve the 5 motions carried at the PY10 stop work meetings.
The fact is the motions carried at Branch Council have nothing to do with the motions carried at the PY10 stop work meetings.
It is unfortunate once again the AEU’s Branch President has immediately jumped to the request of the premier’s office and has had the below email issued which is NOT CORRECT, APPLICABLE OR RELEVANT.
Ross Dale
President
TAFE Division -PY10
AEU, Tasmanian Branch”
The correspondence reflects clear tensions within the union over the representation of members within in the Post year 10 sector, and clear dissatisfaction among those members with the performance of the union’s president Leanne Wright.
