Recent attacks on working conditions in the Queensland early childhood education sector have reinforced members’ determination to Change the Rules.
The most serious of these attacks is an application by Kuranda Community Kindergarten near Cairns which has applied to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to terminate the current collective agreement.
This is the first time an employer in our sector has sought to use Australia’s current, unfair industrial laws against employees.
If successful, this would force the kindergarten’s employees to rely on the award for their minimum conditions - stripping many of their current protections, including the limit on the hours of work for teachers.
It would also mean a pay cut for the kindergarten’s teacher/director of more than $20,000 per annum.
IEUA-QNT is now assisting members from the Kuranda Community Kindergarten to fight this application in the Fair Work Commission – the only recourse they have under the current laws.
Other recent attacks on early childhood education employees’ working conditions have included a Brisbane kindergarten which attempted to deny early childhood assistants their right to be paid for 52 weeks of the year — an entitlement that has existed since 1990 — during recent collective bargaining negotiations.
In this case, members’ collective action prevented the employer from removing this entitlement for assistants; however, such shameful employer actions are allowable under the current laws.
This is a fact that employers know, and are increasingly seeking to use, in a bid to reduce employee working conditions.
Australia’s industrial laws are clearly broken: the balance of power has tipped heavily in favour of employers and it is time to return a fair share of power to employees.
Members are taking action through the union-wide Change the Rules campaign ahead of the next Federal election.
To be part of protecting our working conditions by ensuring we change the rules, go to: https://changetherules.org.au/
