news month
The newspaper of the Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch (vol 43 #6) August 2023 PP 100000871 ISSN No: 0728-4845
SEND A MESSAGE TO NSW GOVERNMENT:
TAKE TEACHER PAY SERIOUSLY
Finding a way forward
Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey, IEU Secretary Mark Northam and President Tina Ruello
On Friday 4 August the IEU Executive was addressed by the Secretary of Unions NSW, Mark Morey. He spoke of teachers’ deep frustration and resentment since the NSW election. The promise to remove the 2.5% wage cap has been disregarded. It is appropriate to look briefly over our shoulder at the past three decades. In essence, the Catholic systemic schools wage parity principle has been in operation all that time. This means that government school teachers and Catholic systemic teachers in NSW earn the same salaries. The 2022-3 Catholic campaign (Hear Our Voice) placed IEU members on the street to signal their discontent with severe teacher shortages, workload and salaries not commensurate with other professions. IEU members marching with the NSW Teachers Federation under a banner ‘The Profession United’ sent a powerful message to the then Coalition government that all was not well in schools and the communities they serve. Teacher shortages and the impact on teaching and learning was complex. The profession was and remains in crisis. This joint union activity appears to have been lost on the new Labor government. A deal done with the NSW Teachers Federation has been torpedoed. The pay arrangement negotiated had a commencing salary of $85K with a top of the scale teacher at $122K (effective October 2023). The significant uplift was necessary to reset salaries at a level to attract and retain teachers. Meanwhile, in the ACT a pay salary arrangement has been negotiated that extends
Kicking goals for gender equality The huge improvement between the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and the current one taking place in Australia and New Zealand can be put down to collective bargaining, Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) CoChief Executive Kate Gill said. Speaking to IEU journalist Sue Osborne on the morning after the Australia’s win against Canada, the former Matilda was over the moon not only about her team’s result, but the huge crowds and high profile media coverage being garnered by the women’s event. “It’s a massive, massive difference. In China there was no real media coverage. There were different conditions around how the players were treated. There is a welcome and distinct difference compared to what the players have now,” Gill said. “We in the women’s game always knew the potential was there. The US has always been a leader in the way it has professionalised the game both domestically and on an international scale.
“In Australia it’s been down to collective bargaining and the ability for the players to determine how they should be treated.
“Collective bargaining has played a huge role in getting the Matildas to where they are now.” “We’re moving from this notion of gratitude, to being a worker, with labour rights. These rights need to be protected and you need to be able to negotiate and improve conditions. Collective bargaining has played a huge role in getting the Matildas to where they are now.” Continued on p5
teacher salaries from $90K–$129K by 2026. Queensland teachers have achieved similar outcomes. The notion that you can rebuild a profession without the foundations being securely in place is illogical. Attracting and retaining the existing workforce in NSW hinges on achieving pay outcomes which are comparable to the outcomes in the ACT and Queensland. Members are contacting the Premier and Education Minister directly by email to signal their disaffection. School communities across NSW deserve better. The way forward entails restoring the agreement and prioritising the wellbeing of schools. Schools thrive on certainty and predictability. Put simply, staffing underpins the operation of every school. The IEU calls upon the Premier to “take teacher pay seriously”! At time of publication, the IEU Executive had passed the following motion: “Executive notes that negotiations on teacher pay are continuing between the NSW Teachers Federation and NSW Government. This Executive authorises the Secretary to implement protected action should the dispute not be resolved by Friday, 18 August. “In the meantime, all members are urged to show their support for the campaign by sending a photo of their IEU Chapter urging their local MP to resolve the dispute on teacher pay. IEU will endeavour to get maximum publicity for these actions.” Mark Northam Secretary