Public teachers stop work to vote on three-state strike: [6 - NSW Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian; Canberra, A.C.T. [Canberra, A.C.T] 29 July 2003: 6.
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Ms [Maree O'Halloran] said members were also reporting increased incidents of abuse and violence from a small number of students, and she would be using the stopwork meeting to call for a "violence audit" of all schools.
Deputy Director-General for Schools in the NSW Department of Education, Alan Laughlin, said parents should check with their children's schools if there was any doubt about what supervision would be provided.
Both the NSW Government and the Opposition refused to comment on the strike.
NSW public school teachers will stop work for two hours this morning, leaving many parents scrabbling to make alternative arrangements.
Teachers around the state will be linked by a Sky Channel broadcast to vote on a proposed three-state strike on September 17.
The stopwork meeting is also designed to bring members up to date with the NSW Teachers Federation's wage campaign and to protest against 1000 departmental staff cuts.
Federation president Maree O'Halloran said the primary reason for the meeting was for teachers to consider a 6 per cent offer over two years.
The union is seeking 20 per cent.
"We know that it is a large pay claim, but we need a significant breakthrough because we are facing a teacher shortage," she said.
"In five years' time, one in four teachers will be eligible for retirement. A third of qualified teachers are working in other industries because they can earn more."
She said that teachers in Victoria and Western Australia were considering joining the action.
Ms O'Halloran said members were also reporting increased incidents of abuse and violence from a small number of students, and she would be using the stopwork meeting to call for a "violence audit" of all schools.
"We firmly believe that the Department of Education and Training is failing to provide a safe system of work for some teachers," she said.
"This is not only negligent but a clear breach of law."
Most schools are expected to provide minimal student supervision during the stopwork meeting.
Deputy Director-General for Schools in the NSW Department of Education, Alan Laughlin, said parents should check with their children's schools if there was any doubt about what supervision would be provided.
Both the NSW Government and the Opposition refused to comment on the strike.
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