International Socialists

In this month's forum we speak to two people active in their respective unions - the Association of University Staff & the Post Primary Teachers' Association.

 

 

Mark McGuire

We spoke to Mark McGuire, a teaching fellow in the design studies section of the Department of Consumer and Applied sciences at Otago University. He was a member of the Otago AUS Executive in 1998.

 

Socialist Review: You played an important role in building the campaign against the humanities cuts. What were the strengths and weaknesses of that campaign, and what were its important lessons?

Mark McGuire: I think probably the most important lesson that we learned in that campaign was that you need to start early, rather than waiting until things reach a peak and then hoping you can convince people on short notice to get very involved. I think a lot of people were really pleased to see how well the campaign went in the later stages, when it was building momentum very quickly but, partly because we were reaching the end of the year and because things started happening very quickly, we didn't have adequate time to plan responses to events before they occurred, so I think it's a matter of having to prepare the groundwork before you initiate really crucial action that requires a lot of people to become involved.

 

Socialist Review: Did the campaign against the cuts essentially end last year, or is this an ongoing struggle?

Mark: The campaign to stop the cuts in humanities, because it was specifically directed to those cuts, ended when the cuts were finally made, or when we were told that the cuts were not going to be revisited. But I think the campaign had the effect of waking a lot of people up to what was going on. I think the good thing about the action is it motivated a lot of people and got them together in one place to march in protest.

 

Socialist Review: Given that, why do you think the AUS members then voted against strike action?

Mark: A lot of people who were at those meetings [the series of meetings AUS held to discuss strike action] were in favour of strike action - probably more than people realise. I think a lot of people voted against it because they didn't think there was adequate time to organise a strike, or they weren't sure that people who were not at those meetings would become involved enough in the strike to make it work. I think the main reason is that the strike possibility wasn't discussed earlier on. There was one questionnaire that the AUS sent out to its members when they were looking at possible action, but to my mind you're better off initiating action you think is sensible and supportable - sometimes it's a mistake, or at least a sign of weakness, when you send something out saying "Are you interested in doing something?" and giving a gradation of possible activity. A large number of people voted for industrial action, but from the wording of the question it was difficult to know if they favoured work to rule, or a one day, or longer, strike.

 

Socialist Review: Would the campaign have worked better if the idea of a strike had been incorporated from the outset?

Mark: I think it would have. It would have been better if AUS was more actively supporting what was happening all through the campaign. A lot of people were very upset because of the cuts, and the cuts were an indication of what was going on with the Administration, and the attitude that this represented toward staff.  I mean, when people got notices saying "you are surplus to requirements," and these notices went out before decisions had really been made - the way it was handled was horrendous.  Although I understand there was considerable support from the Administration for those individuals who expressed an interest in redeployment or retraining.

 

Socialist Review: Putting the humanities cuts aside, what are your main concerns with regard to the Tertiary Review?

Mark: Firstly, it is a move to privatise education.

I think the suggestion that the Qualifications Framework might be brought in is a real worry. It turns education into something quantifiable and measurable and known in advance, as though you've got a stockpile in the back room and you can just count them out as someone purchases them, and when they've bought it - enough! They've got some qualifications.

Those are the two main concerns I have. There's also a split between teaching and research which is a very artificial one.

The whole idea of the Tertiary Review is questionable because there is the unstated assumption that things aren't working now. It reminds me a little of the Todd Report on tuition fees - when they said, okay, the answer is that we kick you in the head or we kick you in the stomach - but the whole issue of having to be kicked at all isn't addressed.

 

Socialist Review: So what can staff and students do to oppose the Tertiary Review?

Mark: We need to educate ourselves, using newsletters, articles in Critic, and Radio One, and to provide the context and background to the Review so new students find out what's going on, so they're prepared when something happens that they have to respond to.

I think, too, making staff and students realise that dealing with what's happening is part of our job here - it's something that we have a responsibility to do and we have to do it as a combined effort, staff and students together.

 

Socialist Review: Do you think it's important to look outside the university for support as well?

Mark: It's important to look at what's happening in health care, or funding for employment - for example - and look at what's happening in education, because it is linked, and I don't think we can expect others to support us unless we support them in their struggle, and then through that activity we'll become aware that we have common interests, and common ideological enemies.

 

Socialist Review: What other issues are facing AUS this year?

Mark: The Tertiary Review is going to be the biggest political one.

We won't have another bargaining session until the middle of 1999.

I think the main issue for AUS this year is to build up credibility and membership - so the membership and population of the university at large realise that we're not just there to bargain on their behalf every year when contract negotiations come up. Hopefully we'll get more people joining and we'll get more of those who are already members active in the organisation.

 

Socialist Review: What prospects are there for a broader fightback against the Government's attacks on workers, students and beneficiaries?

Mark: We've already begun a dialogue with the PSA - another union that represents individuals on the university staff - and in the same way I think it would be good for us to have some form of liaison with the unions that deal more with the health area - probably again the PSA - and those who are working on behalf of the unemployed, those unions that represent other workers.

 

Socialist Review: At what point do you think we would be ready to launch a combined campaign opposing policies of the Government?

Mark: I think the most difficult task facing us is not a fight on specific issues, but trying to develop a strategy for mounting an ongoing campaign. We need to work outside those specific events, and realise we're all fighting the same battle - the staff, the students, the general staff and - beyond that - we need to link up with workers outside the campus. More and more we have to look at the broader issues that affect all of us.

 

 

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Socialist Review also spoke to a secondary teacher and PPTA member, and asked her to outline the main issues facing her union this year.

 

During 1998 the Post Primary Teachers' Association will be engaged in yet another tiresome battle with the Government as they attempt to settle their Collective Employment Contract.

The main objectives of the negotiations are to refocus the debate on the pay increases fought for during 1996, specifically the achievement of a starting salary of $28,000, and resisting yet more attempts by the Government to introduce bulk funding of schools through a new system of formulas.

The PPTA will also be involved in the negotiation of a new Principals' contract with emphasis being placed on a standard contract for all principals and a general pay increase.