Planning for the 2015 Support Staff Conference was also initiated. IEU President Chris Wilkinson was able to join the Committee as they worked through the packed agenda.
Other issues discussed included the current industrial campaigns, briefings on enterprise agreement negotiations, investigating communications strategies and training opportunities.
Industrial Officer Iain Bailey provided a comprehensive update on the enterprise agreement negotiations across all sectors. There was a lot of discussion around the agreements, with close consideration given to the proposed changes to the classifications and structures in the draft Catholic diocesan schools enterprise agreement.
The Committee undertook a review of statistics and other material on the participation of support staff members in the protected action ballots and other actions during the industrial campaign in the Catholic diocesan schools.
Given that support staff in Catholic schools have never previously taken industrial action, IEU Vice President Carolyn Collins described their action as “historic” and highlighted the significance for all Union members.
The Committee was also able to meet Bronwyn Ridgway, the IEU’s new head of communications publications and media, to discuss new approaches and strategies for representing and engaging with support staff members.
Professional Development Officer Amy Cotton presented the IEU’s 2015 training agenda to the Committee. Pedagogy in the Pub and forthcoming TeachMeets relevant to support staff were identified.