Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Australian Education Union NT’s Michelle Ayres says teachers, nurses and firefighters are among those planning to strike next week

Transcript

Australian Education Union NT’s Michelle Ayres says teachers, nurses and firefighters are among those planning to strike next week · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Are going to be finding out a little bit more
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: about this day of action. So what we do know
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: is Northern Territory Government unions union members are going to
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: be partaking in a day of action on the first
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: of September. Now it is in response to the government's
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: refusal to lose the wage freeze, they say. And joining
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: me on the line to tell us more about what
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: is planned is Michelle Airs, who is a union's NTE
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: executive and also the Australian Education Union President. Good morning
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: to you, Michelle.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, thank you.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: So much for your time this morning. Now, Michelle, this
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: action is planned for next Thursday. Who's going to be
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: taking part Yeah.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: So next Thursday, teachers and corrections officers will be worth
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: walking off the job all day. But we've also got
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: alliance between ANTIPS workers from firefighters, teachers of our powered
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: what are medical officers, our Aboriginal health practitioners, nurses and
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: midwives and there's a couple of others as well.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Now, why is this happening? Why has it been deemed
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: that this action is necessary?
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: You all know about the government wage freeze policy that
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: we've been fighting against for the last year. We have
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: a number of public sector workers in all of the
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: public sector workers in the Northern Territory are currently under
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: that policy, whether they're agreed to an agreement or not.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Wages have been effectively frozen at the twenty twenty one level,
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: and we're seeing CPI increases, We're seeing people struggling with
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: the cost of living, and it's meaning that territorians are
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: seriously questioning whether or not they're going to stay here
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: in the territory or head to other sectors. The people
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: who are still under this agreement are basically our essential
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: workers in the Northern Territory. You've got your teachers, you've
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: got your doctors and nurses, you've got your power and
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: water workers. If we are unable to attract new people
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: here to replace the people who are currently leaving, we're
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: going to see a real problem in thelign territory.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: So, I mean, this is a big call. This is
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: going to be massive. This day of action, I would
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: suspect next Thursday. The fact is we're going to see
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: teachers walking off the job again. We're also going to
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: see those correctional officers not working for a twelve hour period.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: So does I'm assuming that this means that there's not
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: going to be sort of any classes next Thursday, or
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: that we're going to be in a situation again where
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: the kids won't be involved in their usual classes.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: The Department of Education have said that schools will remain open,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: and that's the Department of Education who are responsible for
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: delivering education on that day.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: And Michelle, you know, I guess the thing is, it's
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: a big call for the teachers to go down this
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: path again. So quickly after Friday's rally or that action
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: that was taken on Friday, have the government come to
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: the table in any way, shape or form when it
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: comes to our teachers and education staff.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Haven't re engaged in any negotiations with the government. We
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: are seeking a dialogue with them and people in Parliament
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: who can help to change this policy or helped to
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: provide our teachers with an offer that's better than nothing.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: But at the moment we are yet to re engage,
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: especially in the negotiations.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: And Michelle, what about those corrections offices? What are they
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: going to be planning for next Thursday?
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: So we have a day at Parliament House, We'll have
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: a rally that goes from a day of action that
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: goes from nine until five point thirty with different activities,
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: different speakers, different moments of rallying that will include the
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: corrections officers and the teachers and whoever else is able
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: to join us from across the public spector. And yeah,
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: it's going to be a good day.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Now, what I mean, what kind of disruptions is it
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: going to cause? Do you think when it comes to
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: you to corrections or to education and those other areas,
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Because I know a lot of people listening are probably
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: pretty support what is particularly of the plant of the
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: teachers at this point in time, but a lot of
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: them are probably wondering what kind of disruption could this
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: potentially cause.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it does cause disruptions to schools, and
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: I'm sure it will cause disruptions to corrections, although that's
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: not my area of expertise. The issue is that what
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: it is doing is it's demonstrating to the government what
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: will happen if they don't change this policy. We have
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: survey data from the Education Union shows us that could
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: be up to fifty per cent of teachers considering leaving
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory at the end of the year. So
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: what this will do is demonstrate these teachers might not
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: be in front of these kids next year anyway, and
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: this is what it would look like. So it's time
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: for the government to change this policy.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Wow, fifty percent, Michelle, when was that survey conducted. That's
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: a bit of a concern.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: That survey was conducted at the end of last term,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: and obviously it was a survey of our members, so
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: it's an indication and not a specific fact. But it
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: was up to fifty percent of respondents to that survey
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: that said that they were considering moving on. And I'm
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: not one to blame them with the conditions that we're
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: looking at in the Northern Territory at the moment, especially
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: the costs of living in Darwin and Alice Springs where
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: the majority of our members live, and they're looking at
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: their pay being frozen at the twenty twenty one level
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: until twenty twenty five. That's a pretty huge thing. When
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: we're seeing prey rises offered throughout Australia in the different sectors.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Michelle, what exactly are our public servants, because we're talking
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: about our frontline public servants here mostly aren't we for
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Thursday next week? Like you've touched on, you know, our teachers,
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: our correction staff. You know, the fieries obviously, the Aboriginal
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: health practitioners, power and water workers, et cetera. A lot
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: of them frontline workers. You know what are they hoping
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: that this day of action next Thursday is going to.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: See our I guess our main goal is that the government,
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: but also I guess the public will see what the
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Northern Territory public sector is to the Northern Territory. These
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: are the people that keep the lights on. These are
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: the people that keep our kids learning, that keep our
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: medical our hospitals going. And so it's this isn't a
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: small part of the Northern Territory. The people who are
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: facing their pay frees are the backbone of what happens
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory. They're the boots on the ground,
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: the people delivering the essential services. And we're really hoping
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: that this alliance between our unions helps the public and
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: the government to see that this will be a real
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: problem if it is a change.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Michelle, Have any of the workers that are that are
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: going to be taking part in this in this day
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: of action have any of them received that that pay
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: bonus or are we talking here about the workers that
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: have refused it and are still waiting, you know, for
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: the government to come to the time.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this day of action is across the entire Northern
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Territory public sector. So we're inviting anyone who is a
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: public sector worker, whether they have agreed to the General Agreement,
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: where they will have already received their four thousand dollars bonus,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: or whether they they're in one of the other agreements
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: that are still being negotiated. There is a clause in
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: the General Agreement that means that if the wages policy breaks,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: it will roll on, or there'll be a determination done
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: to roll on some of the benefits the General Agreement. Sorry,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: this story isn't over for any public sector worker, the
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: ones that we're currently able to make a difference for
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: as far as negotiations other ones that haven't been negotiated,
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: as those will be the majority of the people will
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: see out on Thursday. But we're inviting the entire Northern
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: Territory public sector to join us where they're able.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: To Michelle, what's the message to any territory in listening
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: this morning who thinking to themselves that you know that
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: public servants or that those taking part in the Day
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: of action are just being greedy.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: The message to that is, well, I can speak on behalf.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: I am a teacher, and I can speak on behalf
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: of the teachers I talk to. The teachers I talk
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: to do not want to walk away from classes. They
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: are educators who want to be in classrooms educating children.
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: In order to ask a teacher to walk away from
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: a classroom, they have to have a purpose or a
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: need or a reason to do that. So the reason
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: that teachers are walking away from classrooms is because they
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: see that this policy isn't going to change any other way,
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: because we've tried for the last year to change it
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: and it hasn't changed. And they see that if we
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: don't take action, there's going to be a real problem
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory and the kids that they're educating
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: are not going to have teachers in the near future.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: And that is really concerned to the teachers I talked
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: to quite often, the principles I talked to, And so
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: that is why I believe that the like you can
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: broaden that out the entire public sector. These people care about,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: you know, edge jobs.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah. We even got a message, you know, from the
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: husband of a teacher last week and he'd said to us.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: You know, Katie, my wife still went into school before
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: she went on strike on Friday so that she could
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: make sure that the kids in her classroom had everything
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: that they needed for the day. And you know, to me,
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: that exemplified the job that a lot of our wonderful
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: teachers do. That, even on a day where they were
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: taking action, you know, for better pay and conditions and
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: to try to get the government to listen, that she'd
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: still gone into the classroom to make sure that everything
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: was going to run smoothly for the kids that she
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: teaches every day.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's one of the real issues with the
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: way that our government treats teachers is that what's happened
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: is rather than paying them well or rather than education
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: system being funded strongly, the teacher's care factor has been
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: commodified and really relied upon to fill in the gap
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: where people are leaving. The teachers will step up and
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: do more and more so that the kids don't miss out.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: The problem with that is if they continue to commoditize
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: that care factor, it will burn the teachers out. We
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: should be allowing that care factor to do what it's
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: meant to do, which is care for the kids well.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: Michelle Airs, I really appreciate your time this morning. Of course,
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: the Australian Education Union president and also on the executive
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: of union's NT we appreciate you speaking to us today
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: and please keep in contact or we'll keep in contact
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: to find out how things go next Thursday. But thanks
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: for having a chat this morning.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Thanks, it's key.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you,