Talks underway with Catholic systemic employers

Formal bargaining started recently with the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations (CCER), which represents 11 Catholic dioceses, in negotiations for a new enterprise agreement (EA) for teachers and support staff working in Catholic systemic schools.

Members would be aware that the NSW and ACT Catholic Systemic Schools Enterprise Agreement 2017 expires on 31 December 2019.

The EA is supported by separate Work Practices Agreements in all dioceses except in Wollongong and Canberra. The Wollongong and Canberra arrangements are contained within the EA.

The Work Practices Agreements, which sit parallel to the EA, are critical documents. The elements within the Work Practices Agreements provide additional detail and understandings which are not found in the EA.

Significant matters such as class sizes, times for meetings and briefings, data collection processes, boundaries around responding to emails, and managing challenging student behaviours are some of the components.

These documents, in tandem with the overarching EA, make sense of how the work of teachers is organised and remunerated.

The key themes of initial discussions were (as set out in the NewsExtra forwarded to members):

  • additional time release for professional duties – primary and secondary teachers
  • salary increases
  • long service leave equity for support staff
  • enhancing security of work for temporary staff and casual teachers, and
  • managing workload and addressing work intensification.

The IEU is seeking discussions with the Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese to develop a Work Practices Agreement for our members. See the IEU website for the complete claim. IEU chapter representatives will receive regular updates as the negotiations continue.

For an update on independent schools bargaining click here.

Don’t forget to have your say

The NSW Curriculum Review Interim Report has been released. Copies can be downloaded from the NESA website and public consultation is open until 13 December 2019. IEU members are encouraged to view the report and submit any feedback to NESA.

https://nswcurriculumreview.nesa.nsw.edu.au/home/siteAreaContent/c7c9e121-0fe3-47a2-8014-9f6fca4591ac

Mark Northam
Secretary