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Workers' Liberty
the emancipation of the working class must be the act of the working class Workers Liberty Australia |
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Queensland state school teachers are set to strike for one hour on 6 June and then for 24 hours on 14 June. Teachers at Sarina State High School in North Queensland have already struck for 24 hours.
Teachers are demanding a wage rise, reduced class sizes (the union demand is a maximum of 20 in years 1 to 3 and 11 to 12, 25 in years 4 to 10, and fewer when the class includes special needs students), and other conditions. The Labor state government has offered 3% wage rise per year for three years, and refused to negotiate on conditions. The dispute has been taken to arbitration by the state government, but since arbitration will take a long time - maybe over 12 months - the union is continuing with its plans for industrial action. New South Wales teachers have just won a much bigger rise by a long campaign of industrial action.
Area membership meetings of the Queensland Teachers' union between 11 and 25 May showed large majorities for the strikes, which follow on well-supported work bans in force since April.
Union publicity for the media and parents is beginning to highlight the class size issue - Queensland state schools have more oversized classes today than in 1986, under John Bjelke-Petersen! - but union material for teachers has headlined wages and left class sizes in the small print. The gap arises, I think, because the union leaders think they can win a bit on wages but see no chance of doing anything on class sizes except score public-opinion points against the government.
An extra percentage point on wages, though, will be worth much less to teachers - and to students - than a clear cut in class sizes.
MB :I had been representing a member about a return to work plan. One key demand was to transfer her to another area. I notified a dispute, as the local section manager would not agree. She denied that a dispute existed. The section manager continued to harass my member about the right to work issue, despite notification and advice that it was not her area of concern. In a raised voice, so that other members could hear, I told her to stop harassing my union member.
WL: How did management respond?
MB :The section manager put in complaints - of intimidation, of threats to hit her and that I shouted at her. The office manager would not hear my side of story, saying that natural justice could happen elsewhere. I was transferred out of the Moreland Centrelink office to Darebin for three months. Management refused union requests to resolve the issue at a local level. Management appointed an investigator. He agreed that the area manager had recognised that a dispute existed, but said "There may or not have been an industrial dispute, it is not my concern" - he was only looking at individual behavior under the code of conduct. He found only that I had raised my voice. The sanctions for that were a compulsory transfer and a reprimand. I had already apologised for raising my voice and interrupting interviews to fellow workers at a Moreland meeting.
WL : What did CPSU members in Centrelink do?
MB :The delegates' committee called meetings in the Melbourne NW area throughout April. Almost every office voted for half-day stoppages unless the charges were dropped and the issue resolved locally. They identified the main issue as use of the code of conduct to stop union delegates doing their job. Legal advice was strongly supportive - it could have been used as a test case as management had breached the Workplace Relations Act.
WL : So management backed down?
MB :I spoke to the acting HR manager at Darebin and showed her the file. She confirmed that the area manager would not sign off on decision, as they were uncomfortable with it. So a deal was worked out where the reprimand stays on the books, but I return to my own job at Moreland. Basically management backed off - no vacancy could be found for me at the call center, although they were recruiting 30 people at the time.
WL : The threat of industrial action succeeded then. Is it unusual for CPSU members to act like that?
MB :It was the strength of the members and the strategy of the delegates' committee that achieved this. On some key occasions in the last 18 months the officials' strategy to defend activists has been found wanting. They have relied on a narrow legal response to code of conduct issues. Of course, you need to have a legal response on these issues, but the key is to build membership support. This is the first time there has been a threat of industrial action on a code of conduct issue. It was no idle threat either - the members would have carried it through. Despite what some officials say, it shows that Centrelink members are ready to fight when properly informed and organised.
WL : You were a candidate for National President for the Members' First team in the recent CPSU elections. Who is Members' First and how did you go?
MB :Members' First is a loose coalition of activists - a broad left. The votes were in the low 30% range mostly. There were some 40+% votes in Queensland. The officials are crowing that it is their highest margin.
WL : What was the Members' First platform?
MB :Basically it was to take the lead from unions like the ETU that have established pattern bargaining. A main focus is to get united dates for Enterprise Bargaining Agreements across the Public Service so that we can take action together for common pay, conditions and staffing. And we called for mass meetings of members to build industrial action.
WL : Is it just an electoral coalition, or does it try to coordinate action?
MB :In Victoria trying to build it into more than simply an electoral group. We are putting out bulletins, etc.
WL : Some Members' First candidates are associated with left groups - you with Socialist Worker, others with Green Left etc. Do the CPSU officials try to red bait?
MB :Not openly in this elections. Last elections there were shit sheets.
WL : And have the various groups been able to cooperate effectively?
MB :Yes. The socialist groups and the independent lefties all work well together. It has not been a problem except once in Queensland - Members' First called a rally about job cuts in Telstra. We couldn't agree on whether to attack the Liberals or the officials - so two different leaflets were put out. What we are trying to do is to build up a network of activists. Through visiting workplaces in the election campaign we have extended this network. That is the key reason for running a campaign.