Tuesday 6 September 2011

Where does Andrew Fraser, Member for Coffs Harbour, stand on this matter?

A public school teacher in the Coffs Harbour electorate has challenged the local member in relation to the NSW government's hypocritical stance on teachers' salaries

I wonder if our local member Mr Andrew Fraser will be prepared to publicly condemn the teachers of our public schools for taking industrial action next week.

I ask this because I can get no answers as to why, on the eve of a very economically shaky service- cutting state budget, which follows legislation that will freeze all future public school teacher wage increases to below the rate of inflation and removes their access to an arbitration process, there is no such restriction on private school teachers.
I ask, because his supposedly cash-strapped conservative NSW State Government continues to allocate an amount of taxpayers' money each year to private schools which, depending on where they choose to direct it, would allow these schools to pay practically all the wages of their teachers.
I ask because his self-touted fiscally responsible government has imposed no restrictions on private school teacher unions seeking whatever wages they can obtain from their employers as well as assuring them continued access to the Industrial Relations Commission if they need to have their wage disputes arbitrated.

I reckon this is an injustice public school teachers must fight. It's utterly unfair and counter-productive and I'm sure most fair-minded readers would believe so too, or is this what our once egalitarian society has stooped to.
Dick McDermott

Source: Letters, Coffs Coast Advocate, 6/9/11

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