Around 100 TAFE Teachers from both Miller and Liverpool TAFE Colleges held a lunchtime Federation meeting at Miller TAFE, and resolved to walk off the job for the rest of the day.
Teachers took this action in anger at the failure of the Labor State Government to negotiate a fair and just settlement with the Federation to resolve their Award.
Teachers rejected the draconian decision of the Industrial Relations Commission with its overtones of "workchoices" to increase their working hours, both for teaching and attendance, to remove weekly limits on teaching, to annualise teaching loads, to remove professional development and to change long service leave entitlements. Having campaigned against Howard's workchoices legislation teachers feel utterly betrayed by the NSW Labor Government and the IRC.
Teachers passed a number of resolutions including supporting the call for a legal challenge, state wide meetings of TAFE teachers, for support from teachers in all other sectors covered by the Federation, and called for the imposition of bans including attendance at senior staff meetings and forums. Teachers also passed motions of "no confidence" in the Director-General Michael Coutts-Trotter and the Institute Director Barry Peddle.
Following the walkout, teachers gathered outside the electorate office of Liverpool MP, Paul Lynch. Teachers then delivered individually signed copies of the front page of the IRC decision with the word "rejected" written across to the MPs staff. Teachers then carried a motion of "no confidence" in the Minister, Verity Firth.
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