Towards a new Award
As we approach term 4 and near the end of the current Award and Staffing Agreement, there has never been a more important time to recruit new members to the union.
September Council set out a comprehensive policy on Valuing Teachers’ work: Salaries, Staffing and System support. This decision, as well as policy arising from Annual Conference, plots the course of direction for the Federation Presidential Officer team in the preliminary stages of the Award negotiations.
Member engagement at local association meetings, school meetings and other forums and participation in actions will be critical in building momentum and support for a new Award.
Pre-2016 Pay Anomaly
The refusal by the NSW Government to address the issues associated with the transition from the common incremental scale to standards-based remuneration for public school teachers employed before 1 January, 2016, has led to inequity when compared with teachers employed after this date.
Federation’s September Council congratulated and thanked all members who took action during and subsequent to the pre-2016 teacher pay anomaly Week of Action during term 3, 2019.
The Week of Action showed that collective strength can have an impact, with several NSW members of Parliament speaking on the matter in the following parliamentary sitting week after being lobbied by affected members and their colleagues. Furthermore, the Government and Department were extensively questioned on the matter during NSW Budget Estimates on Wednesday, 4 September.
The Catholic Commission for Employment Relations was willing to address this inequity, which means pre-2016 public school teachers are also being paid less than their counterparts in Catholic systemic schools. It is entirely unacceptable that teachers with less experience can be paid more than their colleagues who were employed before them.
Administration
A reminder that the AEU NSW Teachers Federation Branch Rules allow for Associations or Groups of Associations to conduct elections to fill vacant Council positions.
Rule 36 (8) (b) provides that:
“If the unexpired term of the position [Association Representative on Branch Council] does not exceed three quarters of the term, the association, or group of associations which the vacancy has occurred may, at a meeting of members, appoint a financial member from the association or group of associations to fill the casual vacancy.”
Associations with vacancies on Council will receive notice of when these elections will be taking place. If you would like more information regarding attending Council, please contact your Organiser for further information.
— Nicole Calnan, Deputy Secretary (Communication and Administration)