Public school strike ruled illegal but union vows to fight on

A school strike planned for next week has been dealt a blow after the NSW Industrial Relations Commission ordered the union to stand down — but they are standing firm.

A 24-hour school strike planned for December 7 has been dealt a blow after any action was deemed to be illegal by the NSW Industrial Relations Commission on Monday afternoon — but the union has said they will strike anyway.
Thousands of teachers said they would walk off the job for a whole day to protest poor pay and a statewide staffing shortage — something Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has labelled a “misinformation campaign”.
But that plan to strike on December 7 has been put on hold after the IRC on Monday afternoon ordered the union not to proceed with the planned strike.

Education Minister Sarah Mitchell has labelled the union’s push a “misinformation campaign”. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard

“Commissioner O’Sullivan makes the following orders and recommendation … The Australian Education Union New South Wales Teachers Federation … are hereby ordered to immediately cease organising and refrain from taking any form of industrial action that relates to the Federation’s current wage claims for employees of the Teaching Service, including the 24 hour strike to occur on 7 December 2021,” the ruling said.

However the NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos yesterday vowed that the December 7 strike would proceed.

NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

“The teacher shortages are too large and their cause, uncompetitive salaries and unmanageable workloads, too great for teachers and principals not to proceed with this action,” he said.

“As a confidential Department of Education briefing released today show, NSW is facing a large and growing shortage of teachers. Unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries are turning people off teaching, leading to shortages and putting at grave risk the state’s capacity to recruit the minimum of 11,000 additional teachers we need in the next decade.”

If the NSW Teachers Federation went ahead with the strike like this did in 2011, they face being fined by the Commission.

That is what happened in 2011 when 67,000 teachers walked off the job in defiance of a NSW Industrial Relations Commission hearing. The union was fined $6000 in 2012.

By Monday evening Education Department Secretary Georgina Harrison said she would battle to keep classrooms open for the sake of the children.
“We will be working through this week to continue to encourage teachers and the union to stop the strike,” she said.
“Where we need to we will seek financial penalties on the breach of the orders we have received from the Industrial Relations Commission today.
“It is our job to make sure schools are open for our students-- most of our students have had 70 days out of 200 out of the classroom already this year, they don’t need another one.”