Employers provide no details during Catholic systemic negotiations

Employers are still dragging their feet in the negotiations for a new enterprise agreement for teachers and support staff in Catholic systemic schools.

They have not provided any detail about their position on matters they claim to be agreed, they still claim to be tied to the public sector pay outcomes in NSW and the ACT and they have not made any real attempt to deal with workload pressures.

An exception to this generally dismal state of affairs is the Broken Bay Diocese, which has shown a willingness to move outside the straitjacket of public sector outcomes.

Chapter action

At its recent meeting on 22 October, IEU Council discussed the measures chapters could take to apply additional pressure to employers, short of a general stop-work.

In response to calls from numerous chapters, Council endorsed the following action that chapters may wish to take:

•Meet to consider stop-work action on an individual chapter basis, even for an hour, to express members’ frustration about the lack of progress on the pay and workload issues. Chapters that wish to take this action should ensure all members support the proposed action and consult their IEU organiser to ensure the union gives the proper formal notice required to ensure the action is protected.•Meet to discuss measures to address workload at a chapter level and to seek agreement with your principal as to how improvements can be implemented. Members should inform their IEU organiser about priority issues so we can also raise these in negotiations with each diocese, in order to achieve immediate and tangible improvements.

Council also called on all dioceses to meet centrally with the IEU to discuss the system measures that have been adopted to address workload and to discuss further significant measures that could be taken in both the short term and the long term.

One area in which we have seen some progress is in relation to support staff pay.

Support staff pay

Members will recall that although the dioceses agreed to increase support staff pay rates to match those achieved by the Public Service Association for their members in NSW public schools, they have not provided any definite response to our claim since February.

Following a meeting on 19 October between the union and representatives of the dioceses, the union understands the following is agreed:

•classroom and learning support staff – currently classified at Level 4 or Level 5 – will receive pay rises of 8% or more, depending on their current classification and role•senior administrative staff employed in all schools in metropolitan dioceses and secondary schools in regional dioceses and large primary schools (above 400 students) in regional dioceses will receive pay rises of 14% or more, depending on the size of their school and existing pay rate.

There are two key outstanding issues. The first is the the rate of pay applying to senior administrative staff in primary schools with less than 400 students in regional dioceses. Catholic Employment Relations (CER) has queried the IEU claimed rate without advising the IEU what pay rate employers are proposing. The IEU wants Catholic employers to match Department of Education (DoE) rates. Changing enrolment bands in a way that is inconsistent with the DoE structure would not achieve parity.

The second issue is the proposed pay rate for Aboriginal Education Officers who perform a broader community liaison role. The IEU is seeking a rate higher than that applying to an employee providing classroom support. CER has stated that some dioceses do not accept the need for such a classification. The IEU has rejected this position, given that the 2021 Joint Working Party made up of IEU and employer representatives considered this issue at length.

The union will seek to clarify the position of the dioceses and the implementation date of the increases.

The IEU has had productive discussions with the Diocese of Broken Bay and we have a much clearer understanding of the proposed support staff increases and timeline in that diocese.