Newly minted Councillor Catrina Niddrie (pictured centre with John O'Neill and Wendy Hill) was excited to attend her first IEU Council meeting in June.
An IEU Rep for only two years, Niddrie has a great track record, achieving 100% union membership among her staff at St Marys Primary School in Moruya NSW.
Also the Assistant Principal, Niddrie said the unusual arrangement has worked out well.
“People would come to me to problem solve as a member of the executive, so it was a natural progression.”
She said bringing all support staff into the fold had been “easy”.
“It’s just a one on one chat and making sure everyone feels supported. We all work shoulder to shoulder and it’s a beautiful environment.
“My motto is that if it affects one then it affects all. If any colleagues have an issue, then we discuss it together.
“It’s very much about community and establishing trust in the whole group.”
Niddrie has an issue with data collection and has raised it at Union meetings.
“We were collecting data for Catholic Education [CE] and for the government. It’s repetitious and we were getting no feedback.
‘What’s the purpose if there’s no information back and it’s taking our time away from our students?”
Niddrie said some streamlining within the school and CE had reduced the burden, and the CE had been receptive to their concerns
An observer at June Council, Niddrie takes up her position as a full delegate at the next Council meeting in August.