Farewell to a firebrand
1 May 2021
Section: News
It is somewhat fitting that Federation General Secretary John Dixon’s initiation as a fighting force in Federation ranks early in his teaching career was heralded by an almighty boom.
John Dixon To Serve His Last Day As Federation’s General Secretary On May Day
1 May 2021
Section: Media Release
State Council of the NSW Teachers Federation will farewell General Secretary, John Dixon today,1 May, 2021 — May Day.
History Lesson: Local efforts at the core of union successes
8 November 2018
Section: News
Federation has long-standing staffing-related policies that seek to benefit students and teachers: a statewide staffing system built upon transfers, class sizes, permanency and the promotions system. But staffing improvements in these areas have only been achieved because of the contribution of teachers’ local activities.
History Lesson: Salaries campaigning: An endurance test requiring all members
21 August 2018
Section: News
In the early 20th century, growing numbers of teachers began realising that the only path to salary justice was to organise and fight for the right to appear before an independent tribunal, rather than rely on the sympathetic promises of politicians.
History Lesson: Teachers and free speech
12 June 2018
Section: News
The significance of the “Beatrice Taylor affair” can’t be overstated, not only for the future of Federation but also the concept of mass mobilisation, Federation leaderships’ later tactics, political affiliation freedoms for citizens, and the Communist abolition referendum and battle for control of the union in the 1950s.
President dashes minister’s attack
11 May 2018
Section: News
Teachers, as a grouping, generally like to follow the rules. They like to know the boundaries, they like their students to follow the rules (sometimes with more or less success) but if the rules are wrong they have a duty, a professional obligation, to speak out — sometimes as individuals, sometimes as a collective voice. The collective is always more powerful.
The dawn of teacher unionism among NSW public school teachers
22 March 2018
Section: News
In the early years of the 20th century, growing numbers of teachers began realising that the only path to salary justice was to organise and fight for the right to appear before an independent tribunal.
History Lesson: Teaching in the early days
2 March 2018
Section: News
The earliest teachers in what is now the state of NSW were Aboriginal men and
women. They taught life skills and tribal awareness via ceremony, dance, lore, oral
storytelling and art.