Hodgman’s WorkChoices/Wage Cuts global condemnation
Will Hodgman’s WorkChoices agenda, dressed up as a “pay pause”, has attracted widespread international condemnation for stripping away basic worker rights.
Will Hodgman now joins a roll of shame of Governments condemned by the International Labour Organisation and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) for abuse of worker rights.
Hodgman’s cover has been blown and his legislation exposed for what it is – a cynical smokescreen for giving his government total power, at the stroke of a pen, over your working life.
ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said from Brussells: “Tasmania’s public employees are seeing their basic rights at work stripped away by a conservative government that seems determined to outdo the notorious ‘WorkChoices’ laws that signalled the end of the Howard era.” Read the complete media release here
Hodgman’s WorkChoices legislation also breaches International Labour Organisation treaty obligations and Unions Tasmania today wrote to Prime Minister Tony Abbott asking for his urgent intervention. Read the letter here
Here are three important actions to stop Hodgman’s WorkChoices agenda:
If you haven’t already, write to the key Legislative Councillors telling them you’re outraged with what the Government is doing and ask them to reject this Bill – email addresses are here.
Make the Switch - Keep your union strong and switch to Direct Debit or Credit Card payment for your membership subscriptions. Download a form here
In another breathtakingly short-sighted and counterproductive move, the Hodgman Government is slashing IT support services for schools and colleges.
And yet again, the Hodgman Government is showing contempt for workers and proper process by failing to consult about such radical changes.
The AEU and CPSU are holding a joint union meeting next week to discuss how we tackle the issue and safeguard the rights of workers.
We have scheduled a meeting for Tuesday 23 September in our Hobart office and we will be able to Skype people in from our offices in Launceston and Devonport.
Meeting details:
Tuesday, 23 September, 4 to 5pm, AEU Hobart office, 32 Patrick St, OR
Skype from AEU Launceston, 39 Paterson Street OR
Skype from AEU Devonport, 63 Best Street
Please RSVP to Support@aeutas.org.au by Monday 22 September and let us know which venue you will attend.
The AEU and CPSU have won round one of a battle to get the Department of Education to consult over the axing of the Guaranteeing Futures program.
The Department of Education (DoE) has now agreed to consultation with unions and to halt the process of dismantling the program while talks are underway.
The joint union victory for workers comes despite the best efforts of the Government to first derail the Industrial Commission hearing on the matter, and then to mislead the community about the outcome through a mischievous media statement.
The DoE is to provide a “Consultation Plan” for consideration and to enter into genuine consultation around a series of member concerns over worker rights, entitlements and welfare relating to the axing of the program.
The AEU is urging Premier Will Hodgman to rethink his Government’s short-sighted and hypocritical decision to axe such a successful and import program.
Tell us about your job
We have invited all staff affected by the program axing (all classifications) to send us a summary of the key duties/roles/responsibilities to assist us in our mapping of what tasks will/won’t be done and by whom in the future. Please send your information to kirstens@aeutas.org.au by close of business Friday 19 September.
The Hodgman Government’s state budget will rip millions of dollars out of education and TAFE in a betrayal of the Tasmanian community. The Government’s refusal to answer direct questions during the recent Budget Estimates means there is still much devil in the detail.
Here’s what we know so far:
$148 million ripped out of education over four years
Guaranteeing Futures Program scrapped at least 15 people to be sacked and another 47 at risk.
IT support for schools slashed by up to 50% – workload to fall on educators
$2.25 million ripped out of TasTAFE by July next year.
Learning Services closed – Learning Services North and North West merged, jobs to go and less administrative support for schools.
Wage cuts – pay rises and increments scrapped; government to take permanent and total control over your pay and conditions as part of Hodgman’s WorkChoices agenda.
Download a summary here of what was in the budget for education and TasTAFE
The half-day Reps' training for next week has been cancelled and rescheduled for the end of October because of the uncertainty around the timing of the wage cuts legislation.
The training will now be during the last week of October and allow us to give you very clear and up-to-date information about the rapidly changing political and campaign environment.
The DoE is seeking expressions of interest (EOI) for WRIPs and they must be received by Friday 19 September. Read the DoE memo here, download an EOI form here.
Working with Children Checks (WwCC) will be required by all people, including volunteers, who work with children in Tasmania. The checks are being phased into different sectors over three years, 2014 to 2016. The first group to be registered are those working in the Child Care sector. These people must commence the registration process by 1-10-14.
All those who need to register will be notified in plenty of time by the Department of Justice as to when their registration process needs to commence.
Support Staff in schools will be required to commence the registration process 1-10-15. Teachers do not move over to the WwCC until 1-7-16. Although two years away yet, it is envisaged that teachers will continue to register in the usual way through the Teachers Registration Board and the WwCC will take the place of the existing police check. Precisely how the WwCC will articulate with the teacher registration process is yet to be determined.
Report by Secondary Colleges President Brian McNab
Changing the School Leaving Age or Making Year 13 Compulsory?
There may well be merits to the idea of starting compulsory schooling six months earlier than at present, but the Minister’s recent discussion paper on starting and leaving ages raises serious concerns about the quality of educational advice provided to Liberal politicians by party strategists. In order to justify this policy, advisers have again come up with the claim that Year 12 will now be completed by an extra 2000 students – surely by now this mythical figure must be seen as the gift that keeps on giving!
HOW MANY STUDENTS DO THEY THINK WE HAVE IN A SINGLE YEAR GROUP? Well, last year there were just over 4,300 Year 10 students in our State schools, and well over 3,000 of them are involved in Year 11 studies this year, leaving at most a total of 1,300 of those students not involved in post-Year 10 education.
However, we keep on hearing the claim that in four years’ time twenty-one of our smallest schools with newly-added Year 11/12 classes will have succeeded in getting an extra 2,000 students through Year 12; doubtless if the same result occurs if and when 11/12 classes are extended to ALL high schools – even those that don’t want them of course (!) – the figure will have to rise to at least an extra 5,000. And now, on top of that, changing the leaving age is going to see “2,000 more young Tasmanians completing Year 12”.
When all the government’s claims are put together, they amount to saying that with a Year 10 student population of just over 4,000 it will be possible to get 10,000 of them completing Year 12.
Such a miracle makes Jesus’ Feeding of the Five Thousand seem like a very minor miracle indeed, and one wonders if the Minister’s advisers did not learn their trade from Chinese statisticians involved in providing Chairman Mao with statistics to prove the “success” of China’s “Great Leap Forward”.
In the last five years many steps have been taken in the name of increasing retention: Tasmania Tomorrow (it failed but retention increased), raising the leaving age to 17 (that’s clearly failed as it now has to be raised to 18) and the “new TCE” designed to scare students into succeeding at Year 12 (fear has long been discredited as an educational motivator). Now we’ve got 11/12 high school tops AND a leaving age of 18 to retain more students than actually exist. It’s a fair bet that, in the lead-up to the next election, some wunderkind of a Liberal Party adviser will suggest that, if colleges were to go back to the good old days and re-introduce school uniforms, retention would be increased – doubtless by another 2,000 students each year.
Congratulations to physical education teacher and AEU member Justin Cudmore who is officially a dead-set legend!
Justin, physical education teacher from Mowbray Heights Primary School, has been inducted as a ‘‘legend’’ into the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
The secret to Justin’s success are dance mats, iPads and giant fitballs !
The school also received the award for the Most Outstanding Primary School in Health and Physical Education in Tasmania.
Ministerial Taskforce - Improved Support for Students Living with a Disability
The Government has established an independent taskforce to examine current provision and support for students living with disabilities; review evidence-based research, and provide recommendations to improve educational support for these students and their families.
The Taskforce has representatives from a range of organizations in the disability sector as well as the AEU.
Terms of Reference
• Review current guiding principles, educational practices and models of delivery at State, National and International level, particularly in relation to:
parents being able to choose the right school for their child;
learning strategies and the provision of education materials;
how best to report on educational outcomes for students with a disability;
disability awareness training for teachers;
transitional planning.
• Highlight particular strengths and what’s working well within this current provision and models of delivery; identify areas for change or improvement that are supported by evidence based practice and reflects efficient use of resources.
• Provide a report and recommendations to the Minister based on their deliberations and findings by the end of June 2015.
It was agreed that the Taskforce will call for submissions from interested people addressing the Terms of Reference. These will be advertised in October.
The Government has demonstrated clearly in the State Budget that it can’t be trusted and that it is has no qualms about cancelling your legal entitlements and overriding the independent umpire through the use of legislation.
They will likely go after Payroll Deduction next and use legislation to deny you that method of paying your membership subscriptions.
To keep your union strong we urgently need you to “Make the Switch” to a direct method of payment – credit card or direct debit.
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