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NATIONAL
- TEACHERS STRIKE IN NSW
The NSW government has offered teachers a 2% annual increase each year for the next 4 years. The teacher's federation is asking 7%.
This disparity resulted in a strike where approximately 99% of classes in all federation staffed institutions (primary & secondary schools, and TAFE) and quite a few non-federation staffed schools were closed last Tuesday.
The dispute may be quite extended.
The NSW government has the support of the Packer and Murdoch media conglomerates, and desperately wants voter attention shifted from the Olympic fiasco, which has resulted in huge financial losses for NSW. Being financially responsible about pay rises for teachers will take the sting out of financial mismanagement of the Olympics.
On the other hand, Teachers are unwilling to accept cost of living adjustments that are lower than inflation estimated to be 3%.
SPIN expects a settlement just prior to the Olympics sometime around April/June 2000 for around the mean of the offers (3.5%).
INTERNATIONAL
- YUGOSLAVIA
There were reports on Saturday that Greeks held demonstrations against a clinton visit. De facto martial law was declared in Athens.
UN investigators have reportedly examined one third of the Kosovo "death" sites, and have found 500 Albanian civilian bodies killed by gunshot. So the worst case is, if this proportion holds, the Serbians are guilty of 1,500 Albanian atrocities. Of course it could be argued that some of those might be KLA in mufti, or KLA killings of collaborators.
In SPIN's opinion there was not sufficient Serbian provocation for the NATO agression against Serbia. NATO murdered at least 500 Serbian civilians with "pinpoint" bombing, created more than US$50 billion damage and made an environmental catastrophe. And all they can find to justify that is 1,500 (alleged non KLA) Albanians murdered, probably most of the fatalities happened after NATO started bombing.
- NATO CHUTZPA over CHECHYNA
The Jewish word "Chutzpa" is defined as a child found guilty of parenticide (think lateral) pleading for leniency on the grounds of being an orphan.
The NATO
governments
are condemning the Russians over Chechyn bombing.
This page published 21 November 1999.