[Greens-Media] Labor fails union colleagues

[Manderson, Roland]

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ACT Greens MLA Deb Foskey MEDIA RELEASE
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6 Sept 06



Labor fails union colleagues

Deb Foskey, Greens MLA, dismissed ACT Minister for Education Andrew Barr's latest offer to public school teachers as a shuffling of numbers that was intended to salvage his reputation before the massive teacher's strike and rally today.

"There is no new money in this offer, which still keeps teachers well below CPI and wage index increases" said Dr Foskey today.

"While there would be welcome reduction to the planned cuts in teaching jobs, any improvements in conditions are miniscule and perhaps illusory."

"The AEU was right to be sceptical.  The Minister's offer is disrespectful in style as well as content, being made via the media the night before a major strike and rally."

 "It looks more and more as though Minister Barr is afraid of meeting with the teachers and their representatives. He has not met with the AEU since long before the budget was delivered, and yesterday he went to the media before even bothering to ring the Secretary of the union."

"The Minister has every reason to be afraid of the rightful anger that he will encounter from teachers whose conditions and pay are swiftly becoming the worst across the country."

"It may be that there is no money - without the Costello Report, we will never be able to test  the advice the Government received on this - but the least any Minister could do is sit down and talk with the people affected."

"Especially when the Minister for Education is also the Minister for Industrial Relations."

"Fewer people now believe that this ACT Labor Government has the interests of workers and the community at heart, but neither do they believe that the ACT Liberals would do any better. History and the IR policies of the Howard Government both cast doubt on any warm fuzzy statements the Opposition might make in support of teachers and public schools." 

"I have no doubt that it would be easier to make the ACT Government bargain in good faith with the teachers if it was a minority, rather than a majority, government. I trust that's a message that the AEU is prepared to deliver to its members" Deb Foskey said.


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Roland Manderson   Media Advisor
ACT   Greens    MLA  Deb  Foskey  
Legislative Assembly for the ACT 
ph(02)62050551      m 0412241379
====== www.debfoskey.com ======= 
  
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