Ultimo TAFE came to standstill after teachers walked off work and took part in a 24-hour strike on Thursday last week.
An estimated 3000 teachers gathered outside Town Hall and rallied against the state government’s attempt to introduce ”Work Choices-style changes” to their working conditions.
The NSW Government urged the teachers not to take part in the strike after the Industrial Relations Commission ordered the NSW Teachers Federation to refrain from industrial action for three months.
The dispute centers around Government plans to have teachers work 35 hours a week, five hours up from current requirements, for a maximum salary of $81,656.
According to a statement from NSW Education Minister Verity Firth, NSW TAFE teachers are the highest paid in the country
“More than 80 percent of NSW TAFE teachers are paid more than $81,000 a year – that’s $8000 more than the national average,” the statement read.
“We don’t believe the public would regard a maximum 35 hour working week as unreasonable and most TAFE teachers are only required to do 20 hours of face-to-face teaching a week.”
by Ehssan Veiszadeh
