In organising a location for the North Coast rally, we were met with obstacles due to flood damage or venues being used as recovery centres.
Lismore is traditionally where members meet to march on the Catholic Schools Office.
But not this year.
Ultimately, Club Lennox at Lennox Head was our venue. We booked the room for about 50 people and were thrilled to see a gathering of more than 120 members. Many arrived in their Hear Our Voice t-shirts, the rest slipped into theirs on arrival.
North Coast Sub Branch President Kath Egan was a great MC. Members watched a video message from IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam and responded with resounding applause.
Primary school teachers Jenny Allen (pictured bottom right) and Simon Smith along with secondary teachers Stewart Grant (pictured below left) and Michael Namrell gave speeches about their experiences with workload, pay issues and chronic staff shortages, which were inspirational.
IEU Industrial Officer Carolyn Moore spoke about the injustices support staff are experiencing.
Once the resolution (see front page) was read and passed, the gathering moved out onto the bowling green for media coverage by NBN.
