Shoulder to shoulder on staffing

Aleah Danzic and Hayley Clifton travelled to the northern beaches to discuss staffing.

Teachers from harder to staff schools have shared stories with their northern beaches colleagues.

By David Ferguson

It should give heart to all members that public school teachers wherever they live are motivated to stand shoulder to shoulder with colleagues across the state in the staffing campaign.

One example took place last term when the Manly-Warringah Teachers Association on Sydney's northern beaches engaged with members teaching in more difficult to staff schools in western Sydney. The association was thrilled when three members from St Marys-Mt Druitt Teachers Association accepted an invitation to attend their June meeting.

The association meeting became a special event on staffing, promoted by SMS messages and emails to Federation Representatives. The meeting was preceded by a preview of the vodcasts and advertisements on the staffing dispute from the Federation's website. After workplace reports from each school, the meeting agenda was given over to a full hour devoted to discussing Federation's staffing campaign.

The guest speakers began by describing their work as young teachers in 4-point non-incentive schools in the Mt Druitt area - both the good and the testing. They were concerned that the dismantling of the transfer system would make these schools even more difficult to staff. The need to fight to maintain the right of every student to be taught by a qualified teacher quickly united everyone in the room.

During the well attended meeting, a number of Federation Representatives raised the importance of talking with all colleagues about the campaign, including casual, temporary and early career teachers. The members from the St Marys-Mount Druitt Teachers Association were able to give firsthand suggestions. They raised the importance of avoiding generalisations about young teachers' interest in social justice and the equity issues that underpin transfers in a balanced staffing system.

The Manly-Warringah teachers were very appreciative of their colleagues for travelling to Dee Why to speak with them. The sharing of personal stories was very motivating, which provides a lesson in itself when encouraging discussion among colleagues about the ongoing dispute. Teachers present gained fresh ideas for building members' understanding of the reasons that further industrial action may be needed in term 3.

Special thanks to Aleah Danzic and Hayley Clifton from Tregear Public School, Daniel Piepers from Noumea Public School, and their Federation Organiser Henry Rajendra for their inspiration and the camaraderie. United we stand.

David Ferguson is a City Organiser.

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Last Modified: 07 Aug 2008