Members of the IEU and the NSW Teachers Federation stood strong together throughout NSW on Wednesday 12 October

As members of the IEU and the NSW Teachers Federation united on the steps of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission (NSWIRC) in Parramatta to protest locked-in low pay rises for the next few years (see pages 1-2), others protested outside local politicians’ offices.

The aim was to pressure politicians to dump the NSW Government’s artificial wages cap that is holding the salaries of all teachers and support staff back. Catholic systemic school staff know their employers are waiting on the outcome from the NSWIRC before making a pay offer to them, even though Catholic employers are not bound by it.

On the same day, members wore yellow t-shirts in their schools and united as a Chapter, voting to reject their employers’ salaries and conditions offer of 30 September because it failed to deal with the key elements of the Hear our Voice campaign that members have been pressing for since February. These claims include:

address the chronic staff shortages impacting schools

address the uncompetitive salaries that are negatively impacting the profession

reduce the unsustainable workloads that are leading to burnout

achieve pay parity and conditions for support staff with their counterparts in NSW government schools.

The employers’ offer either rejects or rebuffs many of the key improvements to pay and conditions that are urgently needed to attract and retain staff and to end teacher shortages.

Here is a selection of images from this proud day of action – a strong show of unity within schools and a day of solidarity between the two education unions.