Salaries and funding among campaign issues for NSW state election

Federation will campaign for a significant breakthrough in teacher salaries in the next award — without trade-offs — Federation’s Annual Conference determined.

“Award negotiations must have the genuine capacity to address the disparities in the schools award arising from the transition to standards-based pay, including school counsellor salary progression and any other anomalies,” the Annual Conference decision regarding the NSW state election states. “Teacher salaries and superannuation must meaningfully reflect the value of teachers’ work, the increasing complexity of the job and the diverse employment patterns among teachers. Enhancing the status of the profession and recruiting high academic achievers much be a core focus of the negotiations.”

Federation President Maurie Mulheron said the union would campaign on a number of key demands in the lead-up to the state election on 23 March 2019, seeking commitments from political parties on a range of issues affecting teachers’ working lives. These include salaries, professional systemic support for teaching and learning, funding, TAFE, Corrective Services, school staffing, schools infrastructure and assessment. He said Federation will seek to engage members in campaigning.

NSW Public Sector Wages Policy

“Federation remains implacably opposed to the NSW Public Sector Wages Policy, which restricts salary growth for teachers and other public servants. The legislative changes to the Industrial Relations Act of 2011 which annulled the rights of public sector unions must be repealed and the judicial independence of the Commission restored,” the Annual Conference decision states.

TAFE

Political parties will be lobbied to replace the Smart and Skilled policy with policy settings that restore the primacy of the public TAFE system within the vocational education and training sector.

Corrective Services

Public provision of education services in NSW correctional facilities must be restored and funded to a level that ensures its ongoing sustainability and high quality, the union will assert.

Local Schools, Local Decisions

Federation will campaign for the Department’s Local Schools, Local Decisions policy to be abandoned by any incoming government and for the restoration of strong professional systemic support for all NSW public schools. Additionally, Federation will seek for the NSW “efficiency dividend”, imposed on the Department, to be removed.

Student assessments

The union will seek for NAPLAN and other imposed assessment measures to be replaced with teacher developed assessment processes, derived from and aligned to the NSW syllabuses, which respect the professional knowledge and judgement of teachers.