Sub Branch reports

Sub branch meetings are an opportunity for Chapter Reps and IEU members from each region to receive updates from IEU organisers.

They’re also a way for Reps and members to provide feedback to the union about what is happening on the ground in workplaces.

There are 19 geographical sub branches across NSW and the ACT, plus the Principals’ Sub Branch. Sub branches meet four times a year, usually in the first three or four weeks of each term.

Each sub branch can send up to six delegates to quarterly IEU Council meetings.

Council is the union’s decision-making body, bringing together about 90 member delegates from throughout NSW and the ACT.

The IEU Executive of 22 members is elected every three years by members.

All Chapter Reps and any IEU members who’d like to increase their union activism are warmly invited to attend their sub branch meeting.

Contact your Rep or organiser if you’d like more information.

Principals’ Sub Branch report

The Principals’ Sub Branch meeting was held at the IEU’s Sydney office on 13 May, attended by representatives from NSW and ACT Catholic and independent schools.

Our principal members welcome the opportunity to share professional matters concerning their staff, communities, and personal wellbeing. The perpetual strain of staff shortages, intense workplace demands and compliance overload featured in our discussions.

Principals are working hard to sustain an almost impossible balance of supporting learning for students and staff who are exhausted. Unfortunately, it is often the principal who experiences frustration delivering the new initiative with its raft of changes, often with restricted time for consultation and implementation.

There was a great deal of interest shown about the ongoing negotiations for both the IEU AIS campaign of ‘Reward and Retain’ and the Catholic systemic school enterprise agreement.

Given the limited amount of Professional Development available for principals, the IEU were pleased to co-sponsor the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA) conference in May in Wollongong.

Some 350 Catholic principals gathered to hear some impressive presentations, including an international speaker from Singapore, Pak Tee Ng, whose key takeaway was ‘principals need the skills of a CEO and the heart of a loving teacher’. This message resonated keenly with all principals, with teachers in Singapore known as nation builders.

“We can’t lose sight of the children in our care. Teaching isn’t just about ‘covering the syllabi’. We need to nourish children’s’ sense of curiosity,” said Pak Tee Ng.

Another speaker of renown was Professor Andy Hargreaves who said, “a principal’s job is to give hope. We need to be buffalos: face the storm, it will pass. Principals together can be a herd of buffalo. Educators need the language of the heart, the core, networks – don’t give us business language”.

Lyn Caton
Principals’ Organiser

Monaro/ACT Sub Branch report

It was a full house at the Monaro Sub Branch meeting held at the IEU’s new Canberra office in Deakin.

School issues and other business:

  • TQI (Teacher Quality Institute) – the development of the Early Childhood •Teacher registration model is progressing. It is expected that the model will be finalised by the end of the year, with amendments to the TQI Act 2010 to be debated in the Legislative Assembly in late 2023.
  • A Training Day for Reps is scheduled for Friday, 4 August. Further information to come.
    • Jacob Betts from St Francis Xavier, Florey is attending June IEU Council as an observer. Jacob announced that that he has nominated for the General Executive vacancy. We wished Jacob well and asked Reps to encourage their chapters to vote.

    In response to queries about secondary loads and taking extra ‘extras’, the message was to say ‘no’ or ask to be paid. Annexure D of the Catholic Systemic Schools Enterprise Agreement, (Clause 1.6(c)(v)(E)) says that a teacher can agree to take additional extras “in exchange for compensation agreed between the Teacher and the Principal under a scheme that may be in place at a particular school from time to time”.

    Teachers in ACT systemic schools who make personal superannuation contributions of not less than 1% may request that the Employer contributes an additional one per cent.

    Representational rights notices have been sent to support staff in the three ACT Catholic independent Schools.

    Workloads are a key issue in the five ACT independent schools. At least one school has given all staff a further one per cent increase and others have committed to proving all staff with a one-off cost of living payment.

    The nominal expiry date for the ACT Christian Schools Multi-Enterprise Agreement is 30 June.

    Dianne Lefebvre Monaro Sub Branch President

    Dianne Lefebvre
    Monaro Sub Branch President

    North West Sub Branch

    The North West Sub Branch includes schools, colleges and early childhood centres in Armidale, Tamworth and the New England area.

    It held its first in-person Reps Training Day for years at The Tamworth Hotel on 12 May. Eleven Reps and activists attended the training day hosted by Pat Devery and David Towson. We learned about the roles and responsibilities of a union Rep and the most effective way to support the members. The highlight for me was the opportunity to network with fellow union Reps from the various sectors that our union represents.

    After a break we convened the North West Sub Branch meeting at the same venue. It was great to learn how close we are to improved parental leave entitlements and to our support staff colleagues receiving their rightful pay increases along with back pay to 1 January.

    Some of the issues raised at the meeting included student behaviour and with that staff safety, the concern that some schools are still asking for more than what is required in NCCD paperwork, and the issue of the timetabling of parent teacher interviews without adequate breaks.

    Our AIS independent school chapters are also passing motions for one-off payments to take into account the cost of living pressures facing support staff and teachers. A resolution to this end has already been unanimously passed at PLC Armidale.

    Our next meeting will be at Armidale Bowling Club on Friday, 28 July. All members welcome. Details and RSVP facility are on the website.

    Libby Lockwood
    St Joseph’s West Tamworth IEU Rep; North West Sub Branch President; IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Deputy President

    Penrith/Blue Mountains Sub Branch

    For our meeting this term we were lucky enough to have IEU Deputy Secretary Carol Matthews attend. The Reps were appreciative of the chance to ask questions in relation to their schools and sectors. Carol supported our Penrith/Blue Mountains Organisers, Donna Widdison and Peter Criticos in reporting on the most pressing union issues.

    The meeting covered all manner of questions regarding continuing workload pressures, challenges relating to teacher shortages, changing pay scales and one-off payments, changes to the rules around temporary contracts and updates to ongoing negotiations in the Catholic systemic, AIS and Anglican school sectors.

    There was much to celebrate with the recent Labor win in the state election. Carol reported that she and Mark Northam had met with NSW Education Minister Prue Car in the last week and that it had been a positive meeting, indicating that the government is keen to make changes, although nothing on pay has been mentioned as yet. Prue Car will be speaking at the June Council meeting at 1pm and an invitation is extended to all members to attend to hear her speak. Please RSVP to Helen O’Regan (helen@ieu.asn.au) if you would like to attend to assist with seating and catering.

    Changes in the Federal industrial relations space mean that future negotiations for MEAs can be strengthened by members being able to take protected industrial action, which they haven’t been allowed to do before.

    Following several meetings in the Fair Work Commission, the IEU is close to finalising an interim settlement to the current enterprise agreement that will be valid until 31 December 2023. The interim settlement covers three areas:

  • support staff pay increases for indoor employees that will be backdated to 1 January 2023.This is a major win for our crucial support staff members who have been fighting for improvements in pay for about four years
  • parental leave has been improved significantly to benefit both primary carers and partners
  • pay increases that were given to teachers earlier in the year, in line with government school teachers, will be formalised.
    • All meetings are held at Nepean Rowing Club starting at 4:30pm on Wednesdays:

    Term 3 - 16 August 2023

    Term 4 - 15 November 2023

    Term 1 (AGM) - 21 February 2024

    Liz Heggart
    Sub Branch President