Agreements
Your Union will be again be busy this year with enterprise bargaining, as several agreements are coming up for renewal. These include Navitas English (formerly known as ACL), UoW College and UWS College by the middle of the year, and Access, EF, Macquarie Community College, Sydney College of English, Specialty, SELC and Universal by the end of the year. If you work at any of these colleges, now is the time to get more involved with your Union – contact kendall@ieu.asn.au to find out how.
In late 2014, your Union finalised a new agreement with Taylor’s English Language Program (TELP), the English program attached to Taylor’s College in Waterloo. This agreement secured some significant gains for teachers at the college, including salary increases of 10% over three years, which should give some sort of idea of the sorts of improvements that can be achieved
The best way to improve salaries and conditions at any college is to negotiate an enterprise agreement with the employer. The Fair Work Act includes provisions which enable employees to force their employer to commence negotiations for such an agreement, so contact the union if you would like to know how this can work at your workplace.
E-news
As a new service to members, your Union will soon be publishing an e-newsletter, three times a year, which will be sent to all members outlining some of the activity that your Union is doing on your behalf in your sector. The first of these will come out in late February, with further issues in late June and late October. Please check that your contact details are up to date to ensure that you receive these updates.
Special Offer
In February, Parramatta College will be running a course with a special discount for IEU members. The course is called To Hell in a Handbasket: Our love affair with Capitalism and Consumerism, and addresses wealth creation, injustice, inequality and environmental concerns. The course will be presented by Hanna Kivisto, who has previously worked at the United Nations and the Parliament of Finland. The full cost of the course is $150, but the college will discount this to $100 for IEU members who enrol before 4 February, and the course starts on 9 February. Details can be found on the college website, http://www.parramattacollege.com.au/course/CAP