After a year of negotiations concerning pay rises for support staff, the IEU is close to matching increases received by support staff in government schools in 2019 for support staff in Catholic systemic schools.
The pay rises are targeted at classroom and learning support and administrative staff, as they were the groups that benefitted from the 2019 court case conducted by the public sector union representing government school support staff, the Public Service Association (PSA).
Pay increases will generally range between 5% and 10%, but a few classifications will receive significantly more than this.
Speaking about the term just gone, IEU Vice President Support Staff Kylie Booth-Martinez said she “watched our kindy aides be stretched further than they knew they ever could, and our office staff, I have no idea how they ever get anything done with the craziness of some days”.
“Never sure if they are nurses, accountants or counsellors just to name a few of their roles and that’s all before they can start their actual work. Hats off to them. Let’s get that classifications and pay right for these special, amazing people,” Booth-Martinez said.
IEU President Tina Ruello said “Teachers and support staff have worked in synchronicity to ensure schools, as workplaces, function efficiently and professionally. The work performed front-of-school and behind-the-scenes is integral to the work performed in staffrooms and classrooms”.
“The interrelationships between support staff and teachers makes schools operable; without them, we could not carry out core work. In fact, as essential workers, we are the human machinery that makes society run,” Ruello said.
“To undervalue the work of support staff is to diminish their crucial role in the fluid running of schools. It is for this reason that support staff members in Catholic systemic schools warrant an increase in pay, if only to have parity with their colleagues in the state system.
“The IEU is close to finalising a mechanism to secure well-deserved increases in the rates of pay for support staff. With dogged tenacity our union has not compromised on its commitment to make things better for support staff for this sector.”
Full details will be sent to members in the coming weeks.