Teachers working in rural and remote areas can feel cut off from their colleagues. But the IEU is here to help, not just negotiating for better pay and conditions, but providing a sense of belonging.
Many rural and remote preschool teachers (and some metropolitan ones) and the majority of teachers in long day care, are languishing on the modern award, not earning as much as they could if they were part of the union, with the collective power to support them in negotiating for an enterprise agreement (EA) which provides higher pay.
The IEU has helped groups of preschools in the south coast and Albury-Wodonga regions of NSW to achieve pay parity with school teachers. The south coast teachers have formed a collective, which gives them much more negotiating power.
The Far South Coast Collective Teachers Agreement covers Tathra, Bermagui, Pambula, Bega and Cobargo Preschools. Each preschool has their own separate enterprise agreement (EA) but they include the same provisions. The preschool teachers enjoy salaries equivalent to school teachers. This collective is a model that could be emulated anywhere.
Tathra Preschool Director Jane Courtney told Bedrock in 2021 that pay parity had been made possible with the support of the IEU, in partnership with the preschools and management committee.
“Community-based preschools are often at the heart of small rural communities and I feel lucky to work at Tathra Preschool and be surrounded by a network of amazing early childhood professionals dedicated to best practice and continuous improvement,” Jane said.
On the north coast of NSW, Valla Preschool teacher Phillipa Maher said she joined the IEU because she worked in an isolated rural preschool and wanted to “enjoy the sense of collegiality being in the union brings”.
“We were on the award and the IEU negotiated an EA for us – we could never have done that on our own,” Phillipa said.
“The IEU also did a Zoom meeting with the parent committee to talk them through how an EA works.
“They provide free NESA accredited PD [NSW only] which is great in a rural area where you can’t easily access PD, and travelling to PD adds to your costs.
“It’s just fantastic to feel like you have this extra support and strength behind you.”
The IEUA NSW/ACT Branch has specialist early childhood organisers, all with experience working in early childhood services, who are there at the end of the phone not just to talk about pay and conditions, but to listen and provide advice on issues like Work Health and Safety, bullying, and dealing with difficult parents or parent committees.
Sometimes just having a voice on the end of the phone, especially if you work at an isolated service, makes all the difference.
Talk to your colleagues and other services about joining the union
From 6 June, changes to the Fair Work Act will allow services to be covered by a single enterprise agreement. This would mean services in your area could be on the same footing when it comes to offering wages and conditions to attract teachers. Forming a collective might be a great way to negotiate better pay.