No strike action by P.P.T.A

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 1

No strike action by P.P.T.A

By

PETER LUKE

The secondary teachers’ union is not considering immediate industrial action, but remains adamant that it did not condone Government legislation to place about 1000 senior teachers on contracts.

The president of the Post'Primary Teachers’ Association, Ms Ruth Chapman, said last evening that the association had accepted a low pay settlement as part of a trade-off for the Government’s award negotiators taking the contract issue out of the

award round. But she was quick to downplay any suggestions that an immediate call to strike would flow from today’s P.P.T.A. meeting to determine strategies. “We are not at this stage considering strike action,” she said.

Her comments followed a statement from the Minister of Education, Mr Lange, that his position had been consistent throughput the troubled award negotiations between the P.P.T.A. and the State Services Commis-'

sion, which acted for the Government.

He said at a post-Cabinet news conference that the P.P.T.A. had been consistently told that if the Government did not reach agreement during the award talks over placing principals and some senior staff on contract, legislation would follow.

“I’m not representing to you for a moment that they agreed with contracts. If they had agreed with contracts they would have been in their awards.

“What happened was they

settled their awards without the contracts knowing that the Government would take legislative steps,” said Mr Lange. Ms Chapman denied this interpretation last evening, especially this reading of the preamble to the secondary teachers award which said that the question of contracts was up to the Government to resolve. She said that the P.P.T.A. had assumed this meant that either the Government would drop the issue, or that it would renew talks with the p:p.t.a.