Enterprise bargaining commences in independent schools

More than 350 NSW and ACT independent schools have issued Notice of Employee Representational Rights as the first step in the commencement of bargaining for new teacher and support staff enterprise agreements.

The IEU will be meeting with the Association of Independent Schools in coming weeks to discuss our claim.

Teacher claims

The union is seeking pay rises of not less than 2.5 per cent in NSW (and for teachers in ACT schools, not less than those applying for teachers in ACT government and Catholic systemic schools).

Our claim includes changes to the pay and teacher classifications in Standards Model schools. This involves easier access to the Band 3 (Experienced Teacher) classification in standards schools. The union is concerned that many teachers are reluctant to apply for Band 3 because of the difficulties in the Independent Schools Teacher Accreditation Authority (ISTAA) process and the upfront fee that some schools require teachers to pay at the start of the process.

The IEU will be meeting with the Association of Independent Schools in coming weeks to discuss our claim.

A further claim is an increase in the Band 2 Proficient pay rate which is currently $99,000 – this is well below the current top pay rate for Proficient teachers in government schools of $105,000.

We are also seeking changes to the teacher pay structure in Hybrid Model schools. We want to compress the Band 2 Proficient teacher pay scale to five steps, consistent with the government school and Catholic systemic pay arrangements. A failure to do this means it takes longer to reach the top step than in other NSW schools. The Band 3 Experienced Teacher salary rate should also be increased to the Standards Model Band 3 rate.

Support staff claims

Support staff should receive pay rises of not less than 2.5 per cent per annum over three years plus any increases as may be necessary to reflect increases to comparable rates in government and Catholic systemic schools.

Support staff currently receive less personal/carer’s leave than teachers and evidence requirements are much more stringent – we want this fixed. Long service leave should also be increased.

Other claims

We have a general claim for Emergency Disaster Leave of not less than five days per annum (when a staff member is unable to attend work because of a natural disaster affecting them or the workplace). This has recently been agreed in Catholic systemic schools in NSW.

We also wish to update the paid maternity leave clause to allow fathers who are the primary carers of a newborn child to access this provision.

More information

The union will be sending our comprehensive claim to chapters in the next week and seeking member endorsement. Please do not hesitate to contact your IEU organiser if you would like them to attend your chapter meeting.

Carol Matthews
Deputy Secretary