Australia: Teachers' union moves to shut down industrial campaign

The sell-out has been met with an extraordinary barrage of publicity from the media, the AEU, and the state government.

Education Minister Bronwyn Pike said the agreement meant that Victoria can continue to build its excellent education system and continue to attract the best and brightest into the teaching profession. AEU Victorian President Mary Bluett publicly kissed Premier Brumby as she hailed the agreement as the best deal for teachers union members in more than fifty years. She later telephoned Liberal opposition leader Ted Ballieu to thank him for his support. An AAP report was typical of the media coverage: After months of tough talking, the state government caved in and gave teachers the pay rise they had been after for more than a year.

What a fraud! Victorian teachers have long been the lowest paid in the country and have worked in the most under-funded state system. The 30 percent pay claim, taken together with the other central demands on class sizes and contract teaching, would have only gone some way towards improving the situation. The AEU, however, has capitulated to the state government on the basis that achieving salary parity with teachers in New South Wales is sufficientas if the Victorian teachers NSW counterparts were not also underpaid and overworked.