They came to Civic Square, they waved their red flags, they lurched slowly left to right in time to John Lennon covers, they congratulated each other for being there, and they were very sure that giving themselves more money is in the best interests of the future of civilisation.
They really don’t like funding for football teams, which is fair enough, but in the 5 mintues I was there while football was brought up many times there was less explanation of the benefit to education of spending more money on teachers.
A strain of luddism was in the air, referring (IIRC) to computers as “infernal machines”. (It’s only been an education trend for 30+years, surely coming to grips with computers should have been part of their own professional development?)
Every 30 seconds or so one school or other was congratulated on getting 100% of their membership to the rally. The cynic in me wondered how this was being verified.
The protest markers were not entirely filled by bodies, which makes one wonder if turnout was below expectations.
They did, however, appear to be having a wonderful spring morning. No doubt their students felt the same way.
Here’s a slideshow of pictures I took at the rally.
Bump. Two more days of industrial action planned for November 7th & 8th.
Get set for more half-arsed union spin about how teachers are striking for the benefit of students.
Please Elaborate on Lanyon. My kids go there, and apart from the crapy Head Mistress, I find the school teachings and teachers to be great
Ten years ago 🙂
Thumper said :
Please Elaborate on Lanyon. My kids go there, and apart from the crapy Head Mistress, I find the school teachings and teachers to be great.
Ben_Dover said :
Get a life.
Frug said :
The current rates are on the right hand side, so a first year teacher makes more than that.
Also, the middle band APS6 in DEEWR doesn’t get twelve weeks of paid leave per year.
Payrates are here.
http://www.det.act.gov.au/employment/payrates
To save some hassle – $48219 for a first year out. $78837 for the highest paid classroom teacher. A middle band APS6 in DEEWR makes about the same as the highest paid teacher. Hope that helps.
johnboy said :
Actually, parity (particularly with NSW) has consistently been “a push” in the 10 years I have been in the education sector… it was only in the last two EBAs that we dropped significantly down; and during the previous negotiations (and due to the GFC), the ACT Government had said that it would be rectified this time around, should they be in a better financial position.
Interestingly, in their attempt to get pay parity the teachers neglect to tell anyone that in the NSW system you could be posted anywhere from Bombala to Ballina and anywhere in between, whereas in Canberra the worst you can get is, well Lanyon.
I also note that no-one has actually mentioned how much an ACT teacher gets paid. Believe me, it’s not that bad, really. And where is this money going to come from?
Having said that, I think schools should be employing more teachers to lighten the load on the current teachers.
Incidentally, I used to teach at Lanyon.
What’s that? People hate teachers striking because ‘you said so’?
Well, that’s good enough for me.
Wow lookout! An online poll from the Canberra Times to back up your poorly thought out argument! The very same Canberra Times that you berate for not being accurate, unbiased, or intelligent when they don’t support your argument.
I’m sure you’ll forgive me for not putting much stock in their online poll.
Oh, and look! A survey paid for by the teachers union! A survey of 400 people, whose questions, findings, and population sample are nowhere to be found online. Isn’t that something? In fact, the only evidence of the magical number of 88% also comes from the Canberra Times!
Well, that’s it. You’ve convinced us all with your airtight evidence, copied and pasted again, which had already been addressed elsewhere.
A poll of 400 Canberrans commissioned by the AEU and conducted by indpendent research company, Kudos Research, found 88% of Canberrans support pay parity with NSW (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/teachers-set-to-flood-citys-heart-in-protest/2304821.aspx).
I’d be interested to see what the question asked in this survey was.
I’m thinking it would have been along the lines of:
“ACT teachers get paid less than NSW teachers, do you think they should be paid equally?”
rather than,
“ACT teachers get paid more than (insert state here) teachers, do you think that ACT teachers should be paid even more?”
As for a Canberra Times online poll, LOL.
Teachers, go nuts – strike all you want.
I just doubt that the local community will support you all that much. Especially if it starts affecting local parents. We all know how high the self interest is in this town.
Ben_Dover said :
It’s all because I’m a secret agent of the PC-driven, left-wing, ‘equality industry’. We’re out to ruin the world, don’t you know?
Jim Jones said :
[huge amounts of sarcasm]It’s really bad when people put words into your mouth isn’t it Jim? [/huge amounts of sarcasm]
Oh please please pleeeease say something about the education sector being run by evil, lefty, feminazi, PC, gay agenda blah blah blah whatever.
It would just make everything so perfect.
Mysteryman said :
Epic fail dude.
I never stated that my anecdotal evidence was indicative of general public opinion – in fact, I stated baldly that “that probably says as much about the people I mix with as it does about public perception of the strike”. (Which was answered by the usual right-wingers with howls of derision for anyone who would dare support pay parity for ACT teachers).
If you want info on the public opinion towards the action why not look at Tom Greenwell’s post in a related thread:
“In a Canberra Times online poll (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/polls/) over 52.6% of respondents agree that “Yes they should strike. ACT teachers deserve pay parity with NSW.
(52.6%)”. A further 22.6% think that “ACT teachers deserve equal pay, but they shouldn’t take strike action that might disadvantage students.”.
A poll of 400 Canberrans commissioned by the AEU and conducted by indpendent research company, Kudos Research, found 88% of Canberrans support pay parity with NSW (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/teachers-set-to-flood-citys-heart-in-protest/2304821.aspx).
The ACT P&C has repeatedly expressed support for the teachers’ campaign, including at yesterday’s rally.”
But don’t let that influence your opinion. Obviously you know best.
Jim Jones said :
Not really even close. Pay attention, now, and maybe you’ll get it…
You made a comment about asking your friends if teachers should be paid at the NSW rate, and them all agreeing with you. You also implied foolishly that your anecdotal evidence must be indicative of the general opinion of the entire ACT public.
I suggested that your friends probably don’t even know the details of the situation (and that you would most certainly neglect to get them enough information to make an INFORMED decision), and as such should not be considered:
a) an accurate representation of the ACT public, or
b) an accurate representation of an informed group of people.
I also implied that the teachers (which I don’t believe you even spoke to, despite what you say) that you referred to will say whatever they think will result in more money, and as such shouldn’t be considered a fair representation of the ACT public’s stance on the issue.
Did I dumb that down enough for you? Would you like me to draw you a picture? I can link to some dictionary definitions of the word “informed”, if you’d like.
Mysteryman said :
+1
Mysteryman said :
Let me get this straight – when discussing levels of public support for a strike by teachers in the ACT, we should disregard the actual levels of public support by the actual people of the ACT … because they’re all misinformed?
Did I get that right?
johnboy said :
Of course there wasn’t. There isn’t a push for parity with the states that currently pay less, either.
Jim Jones said :
I’m suggesting that people should be presented with the whole picture (a concept I know you struggle to understand) before we place any importance on their conclusions. I doubt you gave them any information regarding current rates of pay before you conducted your iron-clad and apparently statistically sound research.
I’m also suggesting that if the people you associate with are anything like yourself, we probably shouldn’t listen to them at all.