QUEENSLAND INDEPENDENT EDUCATION UNION INDEPENDENT EDUCATION UNION OF AUSTRALIA – QUEENSLAND & NORTHERN TERRITORY BRANCH BRISBANE 346 TURBOT ST SPRING HILL QLD 4000 PO BOX 418 FORTITUDE VALLEY
Phone: 07 3839 7020 Fax: 07 3839 7021 Freecall: 1800 177937 Email: enquiries@qieu.asn.au Internet: www.qieu.asn.au ABN: 45 620 218 712
Thursday, 19 April 2012
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CATHOLIC COLLECTIVE BARGAINING Improving Conditions Collectively
CHAPTER BRIEFING NO. 6 Key Elements of Employee Claim Rejected Limited Employer Concessions Made Dear Colleagues Employees have sought outcomes from the collective bargaining negotiations which would resource the expanding role of staff in schools, support their changing family responsibilities and provide contemporary remuneration. In response to the employee log of claims Catholic employers have consistently advised that they ‘are not prepared to accede to the claim’. Where concessions have been made by the employer these are either minimalist, limited in scope or conceptually inept in the case of the PAR provisions. Resourcing and supporting the changing roles in schools The role and work of staff in schools has and is expanding. Employees in their log of claims sought provisions which would resource that expanding role. Employing authorities have, however, rejected:
Increases in preparation and correction time Establishment of middle leadership positions in primary schools Provisions to support implementation/use of technology in schools Clarity on Vocational Education Co-ordination Clarity on provisions for School Counsellors/Career Counsellors/Advisers Recognition of the role of student teacher supervision Enhancement of teacher-librarian provision to smaller schools Annual review of position descriptions.
Minimalist approach to wages and remuneration Catholic employing authorities have yet to table a wage position and ‘propose(d) to delay discussions that may determine the quantum of a salary and wage increase until a package of non-wage items have been agreed in principle’. Employer representatives rejected a number of ‘non-wage’ positions, in particular:
Enhanced superannuation provisions Redundancy protections Using the actual school year length to conduct proportionate salary calculations.
In those instances where the employers have made some concession, the concession is minimalist:
Superannuation Guarantee Charge (SGC) increase of 0.25% follows the government legislation and no more
Increase of 0.25% to the SGC would be discounted against the current employer co-contribution Increase to the casual loading from 23% to 25% phased in over a number of years Redundancy payments to reflect the National Employment Standards. The effect of this would be to enhance the benefit at some points but significantly reduce the benefit for long term employees made redundant.
Employers ‘cherry pick’ on PAR Employees identified PAR provisions as a critical element of their claim. The employee log of claims endorsed the recommendations of the PAR Working Party on the basis that these would establish a contemporary set of structures and processes to establish and underpin contemporary middle leadership in a school and deliver significant increases in time to do the job. Employers for their part have taken a position which is intellectually inconsistent and conceptually inept. The recommendations from the Joint Working Party set out coherent and interrelated structures and processes. Employers have clearly failed to grasp that fact and want to ‘cherry pick’ from the recommendations. While the employers are prepared to adopt the recommended PAR structures, they are not prepared to adopt processes which are essential to fairly apply and sustain those structures. Notably the employers insist on downplaying and diminishing the role of the School Consultative Committee and in the Religious Institute schools refusing to allow an additional appointment period of 3 years (to make 3 x 3 years) to align more with Principal, Deputy and Assistant Principal appointment terms. A separate briefing on PAR matters will be forwarded in the new week. Family friendly provisions rejected Employees sought to remove the quota restriction on the number of job share positions in a school. This has been rejected by employers. Employees sought a provision to allow a person to become part time for a fixed term to deal with family issues before reverting to full time thus preserving their full time status. This has been rejected by employers. Employees sought a provision enabling reimbursement of out of pocket expenses incurred (e.g. child care) when attending school camps. This has been rejected by employers. (Employers argue reimbursement of fuel costs in travelling to camps is enough). Pleasingly employers have agreed to a new special leave provision in instances of domestic violence and have agreed to paternity leave being available before confinement and maternity leave being available at double time/half pay. Still waiting Employers continue to reserve their position on a wages outcome. Employers confirmed that they have a log of claims – and will now finally table it in May. Next steps The concessions being made by employing authorities are welcomed – but are very limited. There is little regard in the employer response to the key issue of resourcing the expanding role of staff in schools. The concessions to family friendly provisions are, with some exceptions noted above, limited in their scope and impact. The employers’ response to remuneration provisions is constrained and heads to the legislative minimum or lowest denominator. In the case of PAR, the employer response lacks intellectual consistency and ‘cherry picks’ the well-considered Joint Working Party recommendations for a contemporary leadership model. Chapters are asked to consider the attached resolution and return by Thursday, 26 April 2012. Chapters should be alert to further campaign briefings and activities in the new week regarding specific issues under negotiation. Kind Regards
TERRY BURKE SECRETARY
Catholic Collective Bargaining (ColB7) IMPROVING CONDITIONS COLLECTIVELY
FAXBACK Fax (07) 3839 7021 Thursday, 19 April 2012
Chapter Briefing No. 6
SCHOOL NAME:
______________________________________________________
ADDRESS:
______________________________________________________
That the Chapter at ____________________________________________ notes the employer rejection of key elements of our log of claims and calls on our employer to reconsider that response and resource the expanding role of staff in schools, support changing family responsibilities and provide contemporary remuneration.
□ Carried
PLEASE FAX BACK TO IEUA-QNT by close of business THURSDAY, 26 APRIL 2012 Fax: 3839 7021 or Email: catholiccolb7@qieu.asn.au
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□ Not Carried