Government Attempt To Crush Union Dissent
Stop Work Meetings Under Threat
The state government has listed for hearing at the Industrial Commission on Monday 22 February at 2.30pm, their submission to prevent Australian Education Union regional stop work meetings scheduled for next week.
The 3 regional meetings are planned to be held on Wednesday 24th in Hobart, Thursday 25th in Ulverstone and Friday 26th in Launceston.
The Union maintains that the Stop Work Meetings are a political exercise in which the members are exercising their right to freedom of speech, and to dissent from the overbearing political decision made by this government to create Tasmania Tomorrow. The government is asserting that this is an industrial dispute.
There has been a change in the delivery of education to our young people. Effectively the services and education delivery to those young people has now been eroded. Teachers are up in arms because they take their profession and their responsibilities to the children under their care seriously.
This issue is about the freedom of speech on political matters. All Tasmanians have the right to free speech and if it is expressed in terms of protest and strike action it should not be stifled.
Greg Brown, AEU President of the Secondary Colleges Sector said: “This is desperate attempt to silence our members. David Bartlett knows that he has to remove Tasmania Tomorrow from the glare of the media. Tasmania Tomorrow is a failed experiment. David Bartlett does not want Tasmanian voters to know the truth about Tasmania Tomorrow. Teachers are at the centre of Tasmania Tomorrow. They know how bad it is for students and teachers. At its best it divides campuses. At its worst it divides students.”
The Union realizes that David Bartlett has initiated this action because he realizes that the fiasco surrounding Tasmania Tomorrow is doing him political damage in the lead up to the state election.
Despite repeated requests that he talk with the AEU throughout 2009, David Bartlett refused. When the Union employed independent education researcher Ivan Webb to investigate Tasmania Tomorrow, David Bartlett was unresponsive to the findings of systemic failure that were uncovered.
Tasmania Tomorrow is a bad system that has crushed the professional lives of many teachers throughout the state. It has reduced student access to a wide range of subjects and is in danger of creating a two class system of education in Tasmania.
“David Bartlett denigrates everyone that speaks out against him,” Mr. Brown said. “Now he is attempting to silence us. What has he got to hide?”
And,
Dear Colleagues
Polytechnic teachers around Tasmania have been sent the email below by Belinda McLennan. They were expecting it.
You are about to undertake stop work action. You have a right to do that. You are not doing it to make Belinda McLennan’s life more comfortable. If she is worried about duty of care then she has the power to close the Polytech campuses down for the afternoon. That to me would be a responsible thing to do.
This situation would not have arisen had she and other Tasmania Tomorrow administrators offered a sincere and effective response to the massive number of problems that were identified from the start of 2009 and persisted all year. When the investigation into Tasmania Tomorrow by expert education researcher, Ivan Webb, identified widespread systemic failure their response was pathetic. They buried their heads in the sand.
Now it has come to this.
You will be put under pressure by a wide range of forces from all sides. Be strong. Support your fellow union members. We want a better education system for our students. This one is not based on educational research or world’s best practice. It does not exist anywhere else in the world. It was created in David Bartlett’s office. The meagre changes that have been made to the initial model have only come about because of the AEU’s strong stance. Tasmania Tomorrow has crushed the professional lives of many of your colleagues and is creating two classes of students. Every day more and more members are contacting the union office about major problems they have suddenly encountered.
Please see the email below for what it is. You are under no obligation to give your name to anyone. You are not spies for the employer either.
It is true that the Bartlett’s government is trying to shut down our regional meetings next week and we will deal with that in the industrial Court on Monday. That matter is no drama. It is a politically stupid thing for the Bartlett Government to do and as such should be viewed as the act of a very desperate man. And something that you would not expect a Labor Government to try and do to a trade union.
Greg Brown
AEU President
Secondary Colleges Sector
And,
From: Office of the CEO – Polytechnic
Sent: Friday, 19 February 2010 4:38 PM
Subject: Regarding AEU Foreshadowed Stopwork
Dear Polytechnic AEU members
The AEU has informed me that stop-work meetings are planned to be held around the State on 24, 25 and 26 February 2010 with a further day on Tuesday, 16 March 2010. The following information is provided for all employees.
The employer has lodged a dispute notification in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission today seeking an Order for all industrial action to cease to ensure that PY10 employees can meet their employment obligations and that student learning and normal operations are not disrupted. This is scheduled to be heard on Monday, 22 February 2010.
This stop work action is only applicable to AEU PY10 members.
In the event that the action proceeds as planned, the following will occur:
1. Employees have an obligation to inform their manager if they will be undertaking their duties as usual at each campus so that decisions on campus classes and general operations can be made.
1. For employees who will remain on campus (during the stop work) a central email address has been established for you to advise us accordingly. The email address is [email protected]. Lists generated from the email responses will be used by Campus, Workforce and Learning Leaders to identify appropriate campus and student supervision arrangements.
2. This information is required by MIDDAY on Tuesday, 23 February 2010.
Further information will be provided following the outcome of proceedings in the Tasmanian Industrial Commission.
Regards
Belinda
Belinda McLennan
Chief Executive Officer
P: +61 (0)3 6233 7337
Campbell Street Campus
GPO Box 1625, Hobart, Tas. 7001
Greg Brown AEU President Secondary Colleges/PY10
