Staff and support staff at the region’s Catholic schools will consider strike action in term two if agreement cannot be met on their claim for higher wages and better working conditions.
Members and delegates at the Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch Council voted unanimously on March 19 for teachers and support staff in Catholic schools to move towards protected industrial action.
The union has almost 20,000 members in 600 Catholic schools in NSW and the ACT. –
The union has five key demands: for teachers to be “paid what they’re worth”; for support staff to be given a “fair deal”; a reduction in paperwork; the provision of time for proper lesson planning; and an end to staff shortages.
IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Acting Secretary, Carol Matthews, said members were frustrated at the slow pace of negotiations, with no offer yet received from the employers.
“The union sent the claim to the employers in November last year – well before agreements expired at the end of 2021,” she said.
“The severe shortage of teachers in Catholic schools across NSW and the ACT is a direct result of declining pay coupled with excessive workloads.
“It has been turbo-charged by the COVID-19 pandemic with staff either off sick or isolating. Teachers are exhausted because of extra demands to cover absent colleagues’ classes.
“Members have reported standing in a corridor between classrooms trying to teach two or three primary classes simultaneously. Something has to be done before even more school staff burn out.”
She said union members agree with the NSW Teachers Federation that uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads are driving teachers new and experienced teachers away from the profession.
President of IEUA NSW Chris Wilkinson, who has been teaching on the Central Coast for 40 years, said strike action was inevitable if agreement could not be reached.
“We need to look at teachers’ workload – it is increasing day by day,” she said.
“With data collection, record-keeping and lesson preparation, we teachers haven’t got time to sit down and plan lessons. This has to be done on our own time at home.
“We are asking for two hours each week away from the classroom to plan lessons – and that will mean more teachers are needed.”
Wilkinson said it was difficult to attract and retain young graduates into a profession that pays so poorly.
She said a bargaining meeting scheduled for March 10 had been cancelled and union members, including support staff, were agitating for another meeting date.
Failing a satisfactory outcome, she said, teachers and support staff would consider options for strike action.
“It could be one day, half a day, or rolling strikes. We will need to go through the voting process to get to that point.”
Terry Collins