Striking activities from Down Under

"Have a great day sleeping in, having a lazy breakfast, going to the movies; play golf, tennis or cards."

Such was the advice of an officer of the New South Wales Teachers Federation after a one-day strike was called last week. The walk-out was planned after failure to resolve a pay dispute with the government and it left 1.2 million pupils free to relax and sleep in, too. NSWTF general secretary John Hennessy said the letter to teachers containing the above advice was not official policy. Australian premier Bob Carr was angry about the stoppage and called it "pointless", as the dispute has already been referred to the Industrial Relations Commission.