Fix it Mike, it's not too late

Public Meeting at Pasadena High School

Governing Council members, education workers, parents and community members attended a public meeting addressing the contentious funding model proposed by the State Government.

Representing DECS and speaking in favour of the model was Trevor Rogers from Maitland Area School.

Trevor argued that the DECS model is an improvement on the current Staffing Allocation Document but failed to mention that there is a total lack of industrial protection for staff and absolutely no base funding guarantee in their model.

Correna Haythorpe, President of the AEU, spoke about the realities of the proposed model. Her presentation was in stark contrast to that delivered by the DECS representative. She spoke of a model that among other things will see larger class sizes, loss of hours for School Services Officers, lack of workload protections and a reduction of leadership time.

Stay tuned for more.

AEU members protest at Parliament

Last Friday, the day after the AEU was ordered to call off stop-work action, around 3000 AEU members gathered on the steps of Parliament House to protest the government's successful application for orders in the Industrial Relations Commission late the night before.

A visit to Paul Caica

Mike Rann finally delivers on smaller class sizes

Schools across the State are virtually empty thanks to the State Government's last minute application for orders against the AEU.

Government attacks public educators, unions – RALLY 4pm TODAY!

From 4pm today, AEU members will be rallying on the steps of Parliament to protest the State Government's unprecedented decision to have orders made against public educators.Branch Executive is asking all AEU members to voice their anger at the State Government's insulting and arrogant move to have last minute orders made against Public Education workers.

An emergency rally has been called by Executive and will take place at 4pm today - outside normal school hours - on the steps of Parliament House. Parents, teachers, SSOs, TAFE lecturers, businessmen and women and people from all backgrounds have been contacting the union and media outlets in large numbers to comdemn the Government for it's actions.

The State Government has nailed their colours to the mast. They clearly have no intention of properly funding public education and are quite happy to attack the right for workers to strike.

The AEU is calling on all members and supporters of public education to come to Parliament at 4pm to tell Mike Rann that the Government's actions are unacceptable.

AEU receives orders in the Commission

AEU officers in the Industrial Commission

Principal and industrial officers were met by officers at the IRC this morning who held a silent protest at the Governments inability to provide an interim salary increase as yet.

The Government is seeking orders to prevent the AEU from taking industrial action tomorrow. The hearing continues.

Show of unity at Clovelly Park

Teachers and School Services Officers (SSOs) at Clovelly Park Primary stood together last Thursday to protest against the Rann Government's proposed funding model. Sub-branch Secretary Jennie-Marie Gorman said that AEU members and other staff at the school took part in a range of actions.

"Teachers supported our SSOs by encouraging them to only work their paid hours, to take their breaks and to not take work home with them."

The activities were not confined to Thursday, AEU members and supporters took action for most of the week.

"On Tuesday all staff were encouraged to wear purple as a sign of support and on the rally day all staff were asked to wear red. On Wednesday AEU members handed out leaflets about the EB and how it affects the SSO’s. On Thursday, five SSOs and five teachers from our site attended the protest at Parliament", says Jennie-Marie.

Jennie-Marie says it was great to have such strong suppport from non-SSOs at the site.

"Overall I think that the week brought our staff together with a common cause and a united front".

The Government's proposed funding model will see cuts to hours and jobs for SSOs who are crucial to the operation of our public schools.

SSOs from Stirling Nth Primary display their anger at SCRFM

As reported in previous postings, the State Government's Student Centred Resource Funding Model(SCRFM) will take jobs and hours away from SSOs. SSOs in small country schools will be most vulnerable. SSOs at Stirling North Primary, just outside of Port Augusta, used last Thursday's day of action to highlight the potential impact of the government's flawed model.

SSO Protest Today!

SSOs will protest on the steps of parliament at 4pm today. Read more here.

SSO Action Day this Thursday: Say No to Rann's Funding Model.

SSO members are reminded that the AEU has declared Thursday 13 November an SSO Day of Action.

All SSOs and other members in the metropolitan area are urged to gather at the steps of Parliament House this Thursday afternoon at 4.00pm.

The purpose of this protest action is to highlight the loss of SSO hours and jobs that will inevitably occur under the Student Centred Resource Funding Model (SCRFM), as well as the thousands of hours of unpaid overtime already worked by SSOs.

SSOs are particularly vulnerable under SCRFM because 63% of all SSOs are employed on a temporary or casual basis. The new Offer received on 10 November made no improvements to workload or job security for SSOs or any other AEU member.

SSOs are requested to wear red on Thursday and to attend the after school Parliament House rally. Bring placards, school banners, whistles and anything else to create noise.

SSOs in country districts will be organising a range of activities in their local communities to increase awareness in the general public of just how destructive SCRFM is for staff, schools and students.

Newsflash! New offer from Government arrives...

It will come as no surprise to AEU members that the latest government offer fails to hit the spot. In fact, it fails on all counts. The Student Centred Resource Funding Model remains intact and the salary offer still sits below the most recent CPI figures.

There are still no provisions in the offer which address workload, class size, Aboriginal education issues, Early Childhood leadership autonomy or a range of other matters laid out in the AEU's Claim for a New Agreement.

More information here

More photos from October 30 rally..

Photos: Matt Walker. Copyright 2008.

Video: AEU members protest funding model at parliament

Government funding model will strip schools of vital resources

Last night, members of the AEU placed boxes on the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide representing the funding cuts to around 200 of the 350 schools to lose out under the State Government's flawed funding model.

Photo: AEU delegates decide on further action

Check out the podcast below for member interviews from Thursday's delegates meeting.

AEU delegates signal ongoing action