NSW: Teachers to meet Aquilina over pay offer

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2000
NSW: Teachers to meet Aquilina over pay offer

SYDNEY, Feb 1 AAP - New South Wales teachers will meet with Education Minister John
Aquilina tomorrow as part of ongoing talks to resolve a long-running pay dispute.

The meeting comes ahead of Thursday's scheduled two-hour stop work meeting by TAFE,
primary and high school teachers.

Yesterday Mr Aquilina called on rank and file teachers to accept the government's revised
pay offer of 16 per cent.

But the Teachers Federation has refused to back down, claiming teachers would not accept
the offer because it had too many strings attached.

Last year's rolling stoppages saw teachers in and out of the classrooms, in an attempt
to raise awareness of their pay dispute.

Mr Aquilina said he was only concerned about making sure teachers were given a fair dinkum deal.

"No minister welcomes industrial disputation, it disrupts classrooms, it disrupts the
learning process," Mr Aquilina told reporters.

But he said he would wait until Thursday to see what action the teachers would take.

A Teachers Federation spokesman said teachers were totally opposed to the government's offer.

He said when teachers last year threw copies of the pay offer document over the fence
of parliament house it was because they were fundamentally opposed to it.

"They weren't throwing it over the fence because of the nine per cent, but because
they weren't prepared to accept the conditions that were tied to it," he said.

AAP nd/sb/ej/de t

KEYWORD: TEACHERS (CARRIED EARLIER)

2000 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.