Edu September 2014

EdU 30 Years

Vol 29 Issue 2 Sept 2014

Supporting staff in non-government education

Independent Education Union South Australia Working with members in non-government schools

ISSN 1448–3637 Published by Independent Education Union South Australia EdU is published four times a year and has a circulation of approximately 4000. Enquiries regarding circulation should be directed to the Communications Officer on (08) 8410 0122.

Editorial comment is the responsibility of Glen Seidel, Secretary.

Advertising Disclaimer Advertising is carried in EdU in order to minimise costs to members. Members are advised that advertising that appears in EdU does not in any way reflect any endorsement or otherwise of the advertised products and/or services by the Independent Education Union (SA).

Intending advertisers should phone (08) 8410 0122.

IEU(SA) Executive Members President, Jenny Gilchrist (Prince Alfred College) Secretary, Glen Seidel Vice President, Noel Karcher (Christian Brothers College) Vice President, Anthony Haskell (Saint Ignatius’ College) Treasurer, Val Reinke (Nazareth College) John Coop (Rostrevor College) Priscilla Corbell (Pedare Christian College) Michael Francis (Mercedes College) David Freeman (Walford Anglican School for Girls) Sheryl Hoffmann (Concordia College) Fil Isles (Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College) Marlene Maney (Cardijn College)

Independent Education Union South Australia 213–215 Currie Street Adelaide SA 5000 Phone (08) 8410 0122 Fax (08) 8410 0282 Country callers 1800 634 815 enquiries@ieusa.org.au www.ieusa.org.au www.facebook.com/IEUSA www.twitter.com/IEU_SA

EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

Secretorial The Genesis of our

Exodus

Glen Seidel Secretary

In South Australia things often are done a little differently. In other states the IEU grew out of precursor masters and mistresses associations. In SA, there was a mood to maintain one united education union covering government and non-government schools …. that is until it became untenable. The education debate of the 1980s was as hot as Gonski ever got and involved the same players (by different names) over the same issue – funding!

Funding Government funding for non-government schools had been abolished in the late 19th Century under the catchcry of “free, secular and compulsory”, but with post WWII migration and the Baby Boom, the socio-political climate had changed irrevocably.

Catholic schools in particular were struggling to remain sustainable. The “Goulburn Strike” of 1962, may have been prompted by the shortage of boys’ toilets in one school, but it escalated into the closing of all six Goulburn Catholic schools and attempting to enroll all 1300 kids in the state schools. There wasn’t enough room!

This eventually focused the attention of governments on their reliance on Catholic schools relieving them of some of the heavy lifting. There was, in effect, church aid for government schools! Financial support grew from the 1960s with Menzies’ science labs for all school sectors, then libraries and eventually recurrent grants for non-government schools. This, however, was not universally welcomed.

Government funding of non-government schools was challenged in the High Court in the “DOGS case” (Defence Of Government Schools) in 1980 and in 1981 it was determined that the funding of non-government schools was constitutional. The funding legislation was not, in effect, “laws for establishing a religion”. Undaunted the DOGS have continued to bark until the present day.

To celebrate the 25th birthday of ANGEE, now the Independent Education Union of South Australia (SA), our non-teacher members are invited to join us for dinner and a presentation by author and humourist, Kerry Cue, and the launch of our ESO handbook.

Thurs 25th September / 6.30pm Rockford Hotel, 164 Hindley Street Adelaide $25pp includes two course meal RSVP by 11th September please provide payment to secure your booking.

Phone 8410 0122 or email enquiries@ieusa.org.au

25 years ago The Association of Teachers in Independent Schools (ATIS) formally extended its coverage to employees other than teachers and changed its name accordingly to the Association of Non Government Education Employees (ANGEE).

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Although ATIS had previously had school assistant members and had developed the School Assistants Award, the formal recognition occurred in July 1989.

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1984 - ATIS - Association of Teachers in Independent Schools

It was in this climate that the IEU in SA was formed in 1984. Until then the teachers in non-government schools had been committed to working within the one teachers’ union – the SA Institute of Teachers (SAIT) which eventually became the AEU. Within SAIT, they operated as a subset called ATIS – the Association of Teachers in Independent Schools.

Nationally the Australian Teachers Federation (ATF) and locally its SA affiliate SAIT, had been lobbying strenuously against government funding for non-government schools. There was no way to resolve the impasse.

ATIS members could no longer remain in an organisation committed to, what would result in, the destruction of their schools and their employment.

Early organisations such as the Assistant Masters and Mistresses of Independent Schools and the Association of Lay Teachers in Catholic Schools had no industrial muscle and gained no traction as a union. SAIT provided the industrial structure, but was politically unable to deliver for non-government school employees.

At that fateful May 7th meeting in 1984, ATIS members voted to dissociate from SAIT and were summarily evicted from the SAIT hall only to continue their meeting on the footpath of Greenhill Road. The workload on that handful of “footpathers” and the early committee was immense. Led by Bernie Donnelly, the interim executive including Val Reinke, Sue Middleton, Murray Lamshed, Elizabeth Smith, Louise Firrell, and Martin Nichols, developed a constitution, elected a formal executive and grew membership to 1000 in the first year.

By 1985, in spite of legal challenge from SAIT, ATIS gained registration as a union and was instrumental in writing and registering awards for teachers and school assistants. A huge effort which is recorded in the DVD oral history (“Footpath to Independence”) produced with the support of NGS Super. It is available from the website or You Tube and a few copies of the DVD are still available. It is well worth the 30 minutes to see where we have come from and to recognise our determined progenitors.

Some of the first 1000 members at the 30th Anniversary Dinner.

Pictured from left: Astride Eberhards, Dawn Turnbull, David Turnbull, Sue Middleton, Bernadine Bourne, Margaret Sansom, Val Reinke, Michael Kulesza, Bernie Donnelly, Narcisa Martini, Elizabeth Smith, Maryke Russell, Ray Ham, Louise Firrell.

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CELEBRATING 30 YEARS OF HISTORY.

NGS Super is proud to have worked together with the IEU SA to provide superannuation and financial services to members over the past 25 years.

We look forward to many more years of partnership and serving members together.

Issued by NGS Super Pty Limited ABN 46 003 491 487 AFSL No 233 154 the Trustee of NGS Super ABN 73 549 180 515

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE IEU SA FOR CELEBRATING THIS HISTORIC 30 YEAR MILESTONE.

1988 - Superannuation In 1988, ATIS was a founding shareholder in our industry superannuation fund ISST (Indpendent Schools Superannuation Trust) which after amalgamation with a Victorian fund, eventually amalgamated with the NSWbased NGS Super. The SA Catholic fund also separately merged into NGS. This gave us access to a 3% productivity pay rise and “all profit to members” industry superannuation. Industry super is arguably the most significant win for working people that the Union movement has won in the last 40 years.

1989 - ANGEE - Association of Non Government Education Employees - Expanding coverage Twenty five years ago ATIS formally recognised members other than teachers in its name and in its rules to become ANGEE (the Association of Non-government Education Employees).

“Other employees of non-government schools whose employment enhances the maintenance and development of those schools” The wording is perhaps quaint, but the recognition was long overdue.

Non-teachers were included in the membership and the industrial work of the union from the beginning. Before any name or rule change, The School Assistants Award was developed and registered in 1985 and in 1988 a Boarding House stream was added, to give “Boarding House Mistresses” industrial coverage.

We shall be recognising this significant milestone at a function on 25 September. The final part of “de-labelling” as a teacher only organisation occurred in 2003 when the journal “Independent Teacher” became “EdU”.

2004 - IEU(SA) - Unashamedly Union with 2 hats

In 2004 our name changed again to reflect a changing industrial relations focus. The industrial relations landscape has changed greatly in the last three decades. Now most of our industrial work is in the federal jurisdiction and often we act with our federal “hat” as the state branch of the Independent Education Union of Australia.

In other business we operate as a state registered Union. Whichever “hat” we are wearing it is comforting to know that we have the backing of a 70,000 strong national membership as well as our 4,000 local members.

Onward and Upward There aren’t any mainstream “private” schools in Australia. The private/public dichotomy is illusionary, but people are still getting hot and bothered about the issue. All schools are publically funded, albeit some, like government schools, get near full funding and others get varying levels of funding according to the current method of calculating need.

The task is now to ensure adequate funding for every child, and therefore for schools. Both educational and industrial outcomes are dependent on the outcome of the funding tug-of-war.

Independent Teacher - the early record The politics and history of the early days is recorded in meticulous detail in the journal “Independent Teacher” which was published regularly from the beginning. There is no point rewriting history when it is so well recorded and reproduced in the following pages.

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SECRETARY’S REPORT

Annual General Meeting IEUSA INC & IEUSA Branch 30th May 2014 IEU(SA) Inc – State Union Report Thirty years ago - on 7th May 1984, the IEU in SA was formed when the non-government schools section of the SA Institute of Teachers (now the AEU) was expelled from the SAIT Hall over the issue of financial support for non-government schools. This was the era of the High Court “DOGS” case which found the funding of non-government schools to be constitutionally valid.

Since that time, ATIS as it was, became ANGEE when membership was expanded to include nonteaching staff 25 years ago. Now known as the IEU(SA), we have represented members’ interests industrially and professionally through the cycles of educational and industrial fashion for 30 years.

That footpath meeting of volunteers spawned the professional Union we have today.

I will not be delivering this report in 10 years’ time and there is no telling what the organisation will look like for our 40th. But whatever it has become, or will become, is due to those brave or perhaps naïve souls who had the courage of their convictions and put in the time and effort to strike out on our own, on behalf of their own. We are all in their debt.

We were instrumental in forming our industry super fund ISST in 1988 and have now followed that state fund into our national fund, NGS Super. We have been fortunate to obtain support from our friends at NGS Super to produce a video oral-history recording the comments and reflections of some of our progenitors. I thank Louise Firrell, herself a progenitor, for managing this project and also the people who agreed to be interviewed.

We are managing an increased level of engagement with branch members by structurally separating our organising and industrial functions. As a consequence we are starting to see membership growth after a few flat years. A new area of coverage is opening up with private sector Early Learning Centres becoming

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educational institutions in their own right and we are particularly interested in representing the neglected interests of teachers in that sector.

Our training program is evolving with accreditation aligned to teacher professional standards for TRB PD requirements and we have received funding to assist in the development of online Reps training with an emphasis on non-metropolitan workplaces.

We are expanding our online presence and electronic delivery of communications. Our Facebook page is attracting more and more followers as people discover a way to keep up with what is happening in their Union in bite sized timely chunks.

As always, budgets are tight and the treasurer again assures us that “we ain’t broke”. There is a surplus this year which is due to a change of accounting treatment of LSL and a small deficit is planned for 2014-15 financial year. The addition of a new fee band was necessary for the current financial year to keep fees aligned with the market rate for a Step 10 Teacher as the ceiling.

Staffing and other costs are well within budget and we have been able to progressively renovate the Currie St office.

Workers Compensation and Workplace Health and Safety are important aspects of Union business and the IEU is no exception. The state government funded WHS project, managed by Gerry Conley is in its last year. This work has been targeted on raising awareness of WHS and the election of H&S Reps at individual worksites.

The IEU continues to have representatives on the Teachers Registration Board, NGS Super and the Non-Government Schools Ministerial Advisory Committee as well as SA Unions executive and committees. Of note is a pleasing level of engagement with the SACE Board under the new Chief Executive, Neil McGoran.

Pictured from left. Front Row: Sonya Flynn, Anne Edwards, Louise Firrell, Tania Muscat. Back row: Marion Ryan, Glen Seidel, Frank Bernardi, Wendy Evans, Vesna Jadresic, Bruno Sartoretto, Tim Oosterbaan, Natalie Feil, EdU September 2014 IEU(SA) Carly Dale, Gerry Conley.

IEU(SA) Branch – Federal Union Report The IEU(SA) Branch is the associated body with the IEU(SA) Inc. Although the state branch of the IEUA is a different legal entity with its own rules and governing legislation, the two facets of the Union in SA work together seamlessly to represent the interests of members in both the state and federal jurisdictions.

Elections for executive were held in 2013, with the new executive starting its 3 year term in 2014. Most of the positions remain unchanged however Anthony Haskell becomes one of the Vice Presidents and we welcome Priscilla Corbell to the executive.

Chris Burrows leaves the executive and I thank Chris for his 9 years’ service on executive. Marlene Maney remains on the executive but has stepped aside from the position of Vice President. I also thank her for her work in that role.

Well-publicised controversies over governance in some Unions have resulted in increased legislative controls and requirements on all Unions in the federal jurisdiction. The IEUA federally, and IEU(SA) Branch locally, have responded as required with governance training of executive “officers”, review of policies

and compliance with new reporting and disclosure requirements.

Most of our industrial work is now in the federal jurisdiction although Workers Compensation remains state based. The Catholic Schools agreement was finalised in 2013 and the Lutheran schools agreement is being renegotiated in 2014. Other schools’ EAs have fallen out of synchronisation and are continually happening somewhere or other.

The federal political scene changed dramatically with the election of the Abbott government. We can expect to be subjected to increased scrutiny and regulation as a Union, with increased restrictions on the ability to access and represent members’ interests. The role of the senate in the arena of industrial relations will be interesting to say the least.

Funding is of critical importance to all sectors of education. Labor may have mortally wounded Gonski by deferring the real increases, but the current government has assassinated him. That is a real shame after all the effort that has been put into the generation of the praiseworthy report and the hopes that had been raised by its sector-agnostic analysis.

Minutes 2014 AGM 1) Welcome - Glen Seidel, General Secretary 2) Apologies - Motion: That apologies be accepted. Moved G Seidel. Seconded S Passey. Carried 3) Minutes of Previous AGM - Adopted by Executive at June 2013 meeting and published in the July 13 EdU. 4) Business arising from the minutes - Note that: a) IEU(SA) Inc Rule changes: have been lodged, but Rule 4 is still subject to objections from PSA. b) Internal Auditor: P Tyler resigned as an internal auditor due to conflict of interest with being on executive.

G Monti was subsequently elected at state Council meeting 3 March 2014.

5) Motions on notice - Rule Change “That the rules of IEU(SA) Inc be modified by the insertion of the following words at the end of Rule 4.1.1.4 replacing the full-stop. Those words being: “provided that nothing in this rule entitles the Union to enrol as members any persons employed by or on behalf of the State of South Australia”. For clarity eligibility for membership in 4.1.1.4 becomes: 4.1.1.4 Persons employed by any authority or body responsible for the conduct or supervision of a nongovernment, school, college or educational institution, or any group of such schools, as an advisor, supervisor or educational officer or engaged in any clerical or administrative capacity provided that nothing in this rule entitles the Union to enrol as members any persons employed by or on behalf of the State of South Australia.”

Motion: Moved G Seidel. Seconded J Gilchrist. Carried. 1 abstention 6) State report - Secretary, Glen Seidel 7) Federal report - Secretary, Glen Seidel Motion: “That the Secretary’s reports be noted”. Moved G Seidel. Seconded A Haskell. Carried 8) Treasurer’s report - Treasurer Val Reinke a) Approval of 2013 - 2014 Financial Audit and Operating Report Motion: “That the Treasurer’s report be accepted” Motion “That the 2013-14 Audited Financial Report and Operating Report be accepted” No Discussion. Moved V Reinke. Seconded M Francis. Carried.

9) Election: 2 internal auditors 1st Nominee J Hanson 2nd Nominee Chris Lloyd. Nominations accepted.

10)Election: external auditor Motion: “That Australian Independent Audit Services be reappointed as auditors for 2014-15 financial year.”

Moved V Reinke. Seconded M Maney. Carried.

11) General Business – Nil on notice EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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Page 10 pictured clockwise from top Glen Seidel opening the dinner: from left Janine Hanson, Astride Eberhards & Bernadette O’Rielley; from left Sheryl Hoffmann, Wendy Evans, Morag Cameron & Marlene Maney; Bernie Donnelly.

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Page 11 pictured clockwise from top Glen Seidel & Jenny Gilchrist cutting the cake; From left Val Reinke & Priscilla Corbell; Dinner guests applauding Bernie Donnelly; Guest speaker Greg Stevens.

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT The First Annual General Meeting A.T.I.S. 6th June, 1985

It is with great pleasure that I present the report of A.T.I.S. to this first A.G.M. The Inaugural meeting of A.T.I.S. as an independent organisation took place on 18th June, 1984, with an enthusiastic audience at SATISFAC House giving support to the Interim Steering Committee’s action in setting up the organisation. At this meeting officers were elected and an interim constitution adopted. A general meeting on 9th July at Norwood Community Hall worked assiduously to finalise the constitution in the required form suitable for application for registration of A.T.I.S. in the Industrial Commission. Difficulties with drafting and typing the rules delayed lodgement of the application for registration until 17th August.

News of the intention of S.A.I.T. to apply for an award to cover non-­government school teachers prompted A.T.I.S. to advance plans for an award application from post-registration to pre-registration.

This was possible due to the unique S.A. provision for an award to be made for a group of not less than 20 workers in an industry.

A group of 32 people agreed to be named as applicants and the Interim Committee worked quickly to draft a basic award for teachers. This was discussed at a meeting convened with major employer representatives and agreement reached on most points in the draft. The application was lodged on 24th July, as No.87 of 1984, three days before the S.A.I.T. application No.100 of 1984.

S.A.I.T. objected to the A.T.I.S. claim at the first hearing on 17th August, and filed points of objection on 29th August.

A meeting in chambers on the points of objection resulted in a hearing date of 24th September being set. A.T.I.S. filed points of defence the week before.

A general meeting was called for 17th September at Norwood Town Hall to explain the award application proceedings and gain approval from members who agreed unanimously.

The hearing of S.A.I.T.’s objection “in the public interest” to the A.T.I.S. award

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application occurred before Judge Peter Allan from 24th September to the 27th September and judgement was reserved.

The hearing of the A.T.I.S. application for registration occurred on 12th October before Registrar, Brian Shillabeer and with S.A.I.T. as objector was adjourned to 12th November.

On the 19th July, Judge Allan set aside the S.A.I.T. objection to the application for an Award by A.T.I.S. and a hearing date of 19th November arranged. The S.A.I.T. appeal against the decision was rejected

by Chief Judge Stanley and dates were set for the hearing in early December.

The registration hearing was resumed on 12th and 13th November, then adjourned to 6th December at which judgement was reserved. The award hearing was completed by 10th December and judgement reserved. We had promised that decision on registration and award would be made before the Christmas break, but this was not to be. The Award was made on 25th January to apply from 1st February, 1985. Registration was granted on 6th February.

Membership had grown from about 300 in July to 700 in September to 800 plus in November as the result of a vigorous membership drive by members of the Interim Committee.

Elections held in October following the adoption of the Constitution in July, saw the first full Committee elected.

Executive meets on the second Tuesday of each month and Standing Committees, Professional Development; Membership; Industrial; Publications; I.T.F.A. have been formed. A further election at the time specified in the rules was held in May 1985 and the new Executive Committee members, will take office in July at the beginning of the Association year which is the fiscal year.

I would like to pay tribute to the sterling work by first the Interim Committee and in particular, the Secretary, Mr. Martin Nicholls, who, unfortunately, was not able to continue after October, 1984, and

secondly, to the First Full Committee and in particular, the Secretary, Mrs. Sue Middleton, for their work in guiding A.T.I.S. to the end of its first year of separate existence. Both Martin and Sue have worked tirelessly well above and beyond the call of duty and A.T.I.S is greatly in their debt.

Jan Bailey began working in the A.T.I.S. office at 277 Magill Road in third term 1984 and helped pioneer the new office at 238 Magill Road in December. She has been a tower of strength with her devotion to A.T.I.S. and her friendly competent efficiency.

A big change occurred in January, 1985 with the engagement by A.T.I.S. of Paul Kaethner as full-time Association Officer to work both as Field Officer in recruiting members and contacting members in schools and as supervisor of the A.T.I.S. office, at which he could act as the focus for enquiries on industrial or other queries. It had been advertised that Paul was anxious to be invited to visit schools and while he has visited many, the response has been disappointing. So we are now going to take the initiative and organise to visit as many schools as possible during the second school term.

These visits will be mainly in lunch times and after school periods to fit in with teacher availability, but schools are still encouraged to invite Paul to suitable meetings as desired.

One of the first moves by A.T.I.S. was to produce a newsletter, “Independent Teacher”. The bulk of the credit for our quality journal must go to Elizabeth Smith who has, as Chairperson of the Publications Committee, piloted the first 6 issues so far distributed and the 7th in current production. We thank Elizabeth very much for a splendid effort. We also acknowledge the dedication and skill of our Editor, Derik Ward, which enabled the production of such a good standard publication.

A.T.I.S. as an affiliate member of I.T.F.A. has been represented at Executive meetings of I.T.F.A. in Canberra in May,

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in Sydney in December 1984, and in Melbourne in May 1985 and through I.T.F.A. has been involved with application for registration of I.T.F.A., as a Federal Union for non-government school teachers. These protracted and involved proceedings have dragged on for a couple of years now and have recently been set back further by a High Court appeal by the Queensland Government against a ruling that Education is an industry. This fundamental point has to be resolved before any education group can gain Federal Registration.

The A.T.I.S. Industrial Committee has prepared for lodgment a draft award for School Assistants in non-government schools. This is to be discussed at a meeting for school assistant members on 12th June at the Walkerville Town Hall and with employer representatives on 18th June.

Assistants were not overlooked in the 1984 Award application for teachers but the exigencies of time then allowed for the preparation of the less complicated teachers claim only with the assistants award to be pursued later. That time has now arrived.

A Landmark was reached in May, 1985, with the enrolment of our 1000th member. A.T.I.S. can only reach its full potential in the political, professional and industrial aspects of teaching and education by increasing membership, using the slogan “every member, get a member” will help on the way to the eventual goal – 100% membership.

Successful representative training nights were conducted in March and May by the hard working Membership Committee of Sue Middleton with special mention of Jill Ritson’s help.

The representatives are a key to our success.

Bernie Donnelly

I look forward to the second year as a period of further development and consolidation of A.T.I.S. and urge all members to become actively involved through your school representatives in the work of A.T.I.S.

Pictured here are scenes from the crowded first ATIS general meeting held in the Satisfac meeting room on June 18. An estimated 300 members packed the room and took part in the debate and voting.

Independent Teacher Volume 1 Issue 2 July/August 1984 EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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Independent Teacher Volume 1 Issue 1 June 1984

Once the break from SAIT had been made the debate over membership of the fledgling ATIS vs SAIT still raged. Some teachers in non government schools still held on to the belief that with the strength of numbers in SAIT they would be better represented. Murray Lamshed presented the compelling argument for supporting ATIS in the June 1984 issue of the Independent Teacher.

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A.T.I.S Executive

Independent Teacher Volume 1 Issue 2 July/August 1984 The Independent Teachers Federation of Australia (ITFA) now Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA) was very supportive in assisting ATIS in its initial stages to work through the issues of gaining registration as a union. South Australia was the only state before its breakaway from SAIT that did not have a separate organisation to represent teachers in non government schools.

ATIS was still a part of SAIT when it became a foundation member of ITFA in 1975. ITFA was the national voice of non government schooling and provided input and responses to the government and other education entities of the day on matters of policy affecting non government schools. It also served as a vehicle for the state bodies to share information about industrial issues and other matters of mutual interest.

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Where are they now?

Bernie Donnelly Retired Martin Nicholls Managing a business in NSW Louise (Yates) Firrell Assistant Secretary, IEUSA Murray Lamshed Teaching in Kazakhstan Sue Middleton Retired Val Reinke IEUSA Treasurer & Teaching at Nazareth Catholic College Elizabeth Smith Retired

Some of the members of the A.T.I.S Executive at the 30th Anniversary Dinner From left: Elizabeth Smith, Sue Middleton, Val Reinke, Louise Firrell & Bernie Donnelly.

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Getting Our House in Order Early in 1985 once the fledgling organisation had found itself a home on Magill Road at Stepney and we had enough members to pay a salary, Jan Bailey was employed. Jan’s office skills and previous experience working for a union made her the perfect fit to get ATIS’s office up and running. For the first year until Barry Morrison was employed as Secretary in 1986, Jan was the ‘face’ of the Union. After that for the next 14 years she was the ‘go to’ person for anything members or staff needed to know from paper clips to membership enquiries.

Independent Teacher Volume 2 Issue 1 March 1985

Independent Teacher Volume 2 Issue 6 November 1985

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The first Reps meeting held at the Walkerville Town Hall on 19 March 1985 had an attendance level that showed great interest in the potential of the fledgling ATIS. A few names are listed in the original caption, but there are many more recognisable faces of teachers who are still members as well as those who have moved on.

Independent Teacher Volume 2 Issue 2 May 1985 Independent Teacher Volume 1 Issue 4 Nov/Dec 1984 EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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Independent Teacher Volume 2 Issue 3 June 1985

Independent Teacher Volume 1 Issue 2 July/August 1984

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Independent Teacher Volume 2 Issue 5 Oct 1985 EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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Bernie Donnelly

Barry Morrison

Margaret Sansom

Val Reinke

A word from our life Members

Margaret Sansom

IEUSA Vice President from 1995 to 2002, President 2002 to 2010

As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the IEUSA I would like to add my congratulations to the organisation: members past and present.

In particular, I wish to acknowledge the founding members, those who gathered on Greenhill Road to determine the future industrial representation for employees in the non-government education sector in this state. I’d like to pay tribute to their foresight, their courage, their commitment and the considerable contribution they have made to the IEU. That support continues today, not just by their presence at annual meetings or events, but on a continual basis, as mentors, IEU officers, directors or representatives on various working parties and committees. Their loyalty to the membership and to the profession, is commendable.

The formation of ATIS presented many challenges but also great opportunity. Recognising this I was keen to add my support and have been a proud member of our Union since its inception. My journey in association with the IEU has been interesting and rewarding but also unexpected in where it has led. It has taken me from the familiar classroom setting to board rooms, from raising issues in my own workplace to addressing a stop work meeting in Victoria Square, from the comfort zone of an elite girl’s school to Trades Hall and protest marches.

We began with a few deeply committed people. They established a strong foundation on which members

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have continued to build, bringing us to the space in which we find ourselves today, I continue to be a proud member of our union movement, of all that has been achieved in regard to workplace relations and conditions but there is still much to be done. As professionals we need to ensure we have a voice in the education debate, be part of the formation of any legislation that impacts on the work we do, (and our ability to balance that with our personal lives). We need to address the discrimination that still exists in regard to gender and to address the bullying and harassment behaviour that exists in so many workplaces. We need to determine how we assist people to participate in our workplaces beyond the current retirement age. We need to build a culture of mentoring, utilising the considerable knowledge and experience of those who demonstrate excellence, lift the morale of the those working in the education industry and regain our professional status.

The future will present new challenges and with them, new opportunities. The IEUSA had its beginnings when a crisis was seen as an opportunity. Over the past 30 years this organisation has embraced challenges, adapted to change and evolved to the strong viable body it is today.

We do not exist in spite of the many challenges that confront us but because of them. They shape us, help to define us and will continue to do so going forward.

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Barry Morrison

IEUSA Secretary from 1990 to 2001

Bernie Donnelly

IEUSA President from 1984 to 1995

Why did I spend 15 very demanding years in the union movement with the IEU? No doubt I had a strongly developed sense of social justice and a fundamental belief in an egalitarian society but what most motivated me was the mantra, “that’s not fair – someone should do something about that” and the overwhelming desire to put up my hand to be that someone.

From being a staunch unionist in Teachers College days, a SAIT member while in a Government school, involved in an unsuccessful Catholic teachers group, heading an independent teachers association within SAIT, my mind moves to May 1984 and is full of memories of the birth of our Union and the valiant work of the core group of independent school SAIT members who defected from SAIT due to its Govt. funding policy. The footpath meeting following our expulsion from the SAIT building gained a photograph in the next day’s Advertiser! The first Committee organised meetings to explain our position and rapid early growth of the fledgling Association occurred including some very active members who became Committee members. We must pay tribute to the ISB and CEO leaders of the time who were

Val Reinke

very supportive in the battles we had in gaining a separate education union registration in the Industrial Commission and subsequently the first Award covering teachers in non-government schools. Further developments included coverage of Boarding House staff in an award for school support staff, but probably the most significant was the establishment of the Independent Schools Superannuation Trust.

All these things have come about through the dedicated work of our successive Secretaries and Committee members supported by loyal and hardworking Office staff.

May the good work continue for the Union to grow and prosper.

IEUSA Treasurer since 1984

I first became involved by going to what is now the AEU. This union seemed to be a good opportunity to bring a bit of honesty back into the system but it only lasted a short time before we had to leave and strike out on our own.

In the early days, it was a bit tricky because everybody was learning how to run an organisation and everybody who had just been a classroom teacher all of a sudden found themselves in this exciting situation where you’re Saint George and you’re busy slaying dragons.

The early days are a blur of activities. We were in survival mode. Not like now where we have the professional staff that do all the jobs that need doing.

It took a lot of organising, a lot of help from people, but it was interesting. I don’t know how we had the energy to do it, but then it was 30 years ago, so perhaps I had a bit more energy then.

The person who knew most of what it all meant was Bernie. He was more used to dealing with the legalities. It was going to be difficult because we were not yet a union and you can’t just become a union by saying you are one. There is a legal process to go through and SAIT fought that in the courts. They said “No, we love them, they should belong to us.” The judge thought otherwise.

I was comfortable and secure in my job as senior master, but when I heard some of the horrible things that were being done to some staff, I was horrified.

There were no rules. I was being treated respectfully and professionally by my employers and I couldn’t see why all employers couldn’t do the same to their staff.

That’s probably why I got in.

I’m probably treasurer because I’m not bad at looking after money on behalf of other people. I’m not really that good at doing it for myself or I wouldn’t be teaching still. Actually I still enjoy teaching, so I’m still doing it. I tend to use the phrase “We ain’t broke” and now people start to worry if I don’t. But seriously, we are not broke.

The thing that has had the biggest impact on me in the last 30 years is the fact that we’ve changed the “law” to protect a very large number of people who needed protection and didn’t even know they needed it, until it was too late.

I am thrilled that we brought in superannuation for our people. They couldn’t even spell superannuation previously. My greatest kick is seeing that we’ve started a superannuation scheme that’s very successful and it has protected our members and helped them out when they finally give up work. To me, that’s brilliant.

We’ve actually provided some protection for people who needed protection and we’ve taught the employers to act a bit more like reasonable people.

They weren’t necessarily that way before, but they have become more professional, as too have we, in our 30 years of sticking up for members.

EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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s, r a e y 0 3 n i n e p p a h n a c A lot or not...

At any point in time it is sometimes difficult to get a true sense of perspective. Over the last 30 years many things seem to have happened to promote gender equity but in looking back though our old journals many of the themes are still the same, so have things really got better?

One of the issues that precipitated a few of us abandoning SAIT in 1984 was indirectly but inextricably tied to the status of women in the teaching profession. Without an Award for teachers in nongovernment schools there was no regulation of salaries and conditions for any lay staff. Women in particular were disadvantaged by this state of affairs by often being paid less than their male counterparts.

This inequity was not only directly gender based but indirectly as a result of inconsistencies between pay rates for teachers in some independent primary and secondary schools.

Before ATIS had even managed to register itself as a union a group of members successfully managed to negotiate and register an award for teachers in non-government schools which overcame this inequity by prescribing pay rates for teachers based on qualifications and years of experience only. In the same year, 1984, the Sex Discrimination Act was passed by the Federal Government. This was a milestone for women in giving effect to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which had been ratified the year before. This meant that for the first time it was unlawful for an employer or service provider to discriminate against a person on the basis of gender. The School Assistants Non Government Schools Award was achieved soon after in 1985 which provided a similar safety net for non teaching staff many of whom were women.

While there have been additional legislative frameworks put in place over the intervening years such as affirmative action legislation in 1986, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act in 1999 and most recently the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, many of the issues are still with us. While the obvious opportunities for gender discrimination have been removed, the more subtle and indirect avenues are still there. The gender pay gap despite ‘equal pay’ is still 11.5% in education and 17% overall. The highest gap is in the financial services sector where it is 31.9%. The undervaluing of work on the basis of gender and the disproportionate

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Louise Firrell Assistant Secretary amount of caring and family responsibilities undertaken by women goes some of the way to help explain the maintenance of a gap but not all.

A look back through our old journal ‘The Independent Teacher’ shows that we have come a long way with changes to language and legislation. The 1983 ACTU Working Women’s Charter published in the journal in April 1988, highlights this as it cited ‘campaign[ing] to counter those groups in the community challenging the right of women to work’ and in the same year when ATIS (IEU) began the Independent Schools Superannuation Trust (ISST) it made an immediate impact on women who worked in non-government schools financial equality by enabling them to be a member of the fund to prepare for their retirement when ‘only one in four women had employer sponsored superannuation compared to one in two men’ Some of the identified issues have been dealt with reasonably successfully, for example provision of unpaid maternity leave, then paid maternity leave for increasing amounts of time so that now access to paid maternity leave for staff in schools is almost universal, and complimented by the first national paid parental leave scheme in 2011, but access to flexibility on return to work and access to quality childcare are still battlegrounds being fought over. Access to promotion is still contentious and while ‘education’ is arguably better at providing leadership opportunities for women there are still many areas of business and employment which are not.

We are still talking about the ‘glass ceiling’ being a barrier for women, however identifying the real issues is difficult when public policy, legal and industrial instruments all provide for ‘equal’ treatment regardless of gender. It is the subtleties of power alliances in organisations that makes identification of the barriers elusive and therefore the development of strategies to deal with them more so. The Association of Women Educators celebrated their 30th anniversary last year and compiled a journal this year to review and celebrate the achievements for women over the past 30 years. Professor Rosemary Pringle in her article, EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

‘Masculinity and Organisational Structure’ opines that “the glass ceiling isn’t glass, it’s just a very dense layer of men”. The experience of our first female Prime Minister had a gender dimension which is still being analysed and the disproportionate number of men compared with women on the latest honours list tells its own story.

The Equal Opportunity Act SA (1984) and similar acts in the other states, and federally have provided an opportunity for women (and men) to seek redress for being discriminated against in the workplace, but it has possibly had less impact than it could have

because the majority of complaints are settled at the conciliation stage and therefore the terms of settlement are often confidential. This means that they cannot be used as cautionary tales for employers and fulfil a broader educative function.

The new reporting requirements of the Workplace Gender Equality Act may assist organisations to focus more direct attention on their structures and practices to ensure that women are given equal access to training and leadership opportunities so that their organisations benefit from the skills and expertise of their female employees, but time will tell.

Independent Teacher Issue 1 February 1988 References Workplace Gender Equality Agency: https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-03-04-Gender_Pay_ Gap_factsheet_website.pdf Pringle, Rosemary, ‘Masculinity and Organisational Structure’, 1995 in REDRESS Vol 23 No 3/Volume 23 No 1 April 2014.Issn 1039382X EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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Independent Teacher Issue 2 April 1988

Independent Teacher Issue 1 February 1988

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EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

Like the IEU in South Australia, this year we are celebrating 30 years of helping workers improve their lives.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Nelson Mandela

SUPPORT ADULT EDUCATION

SUPPORT WORKERS’ RIGHTS

TIMOR-LESTE: A trainer assists a woman during a literacy workshop in the remote Neran community. Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA supported literacy programs have helped more than 3,000 rural Timorese women to become literate and numerate since 2001.

Union Aid Abroad APHEDA

The overseas humanitarian aid agency of the ACTU

30 years

of solidarity

Since 1984

Visit apheda.org.au or call 1800 888 674 to become a regular monthly donor. 29 EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

Letter to a Friend Jenny Young was employed by ANGEE in 1990 as a Field Officer. She was the third person to fill that role following on from Peter Garlick and she was the first teacher and member to do so. Later she became the first Assistant Secretary of ANGEE. Jenny wrote ‘Letter to a Friend’ for each Independent Teacher journal from 1990 to her retirement at the end of 2003. Her letters were a chatty way of raising awareness and often discussing strategies for dealing with current industrial issues.

This was her second to last letter published in the July 2003 edition. The issues she was talking about still resonate today: the challenges faced by boarding house supervisors and teachers’ workload.

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EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

Dear Ros, Thanks for your letter about your adventures as a Boarding House Supervisor. The amusing elements need to be there to make the rest of the responsibility bearable, I suspect. I have always felt that you were a vastly undervalued group of staff, acting ‘in loco parentis’ to multiple adolescents with all the complexities and anxieties, complexes and hormones of the creatures! I take my hat off to you all. If I were in power I would immediately double your salaries!! Fortunately, I suspect that the parents of most of your charges do actually realise your worth and treasure you! I hope so, anyway.

My changed status as a part-time teacher is something to be celebrated. I think I told you that I arranged to have Tuesdays off this year. It just happens to be golf day, but even without that it makes a nice break in the intensity of the week and I am finding out all sorts of things about the way real people live. Last week, for example, I found that I had time to go to the post office and organise to send some knickknacks to the PNG folk following my trip.

Normally getting to a post office is well nigh impossible with afternoon meetings and extra-curricular activities and rush, rush, rush to make sure everything is done or ready for the next day. It also means that I can walk down Jetty road and browse through the shops and not feel rushed. It seems such a little thing to appreciate, but it gives me intense pleasure.

Of course, there is a down side. It is not so much the smaller pay cheque, although that is noticeable, as the fact that I have to discipline myself to undertake only 80% of a full-time load. Teaching is rather like housework – it is never done – and the temptation to fill every available minute with preparation and planning, as well as assessment and recording, research and professional development, innovation and experimentation is always there. It is funny how we teachers never practice what we preach. We go to great lengths to instil good study habits into our students, encouraging time management and goal setting, but we let both time and goals run completely out of control in our own working lives. And then there is this ever present guilt complex that makes it so hard for us to say ‘No’ to a request from a colleague or a student to take on this ever so important new task so that we shuffle our current workload a bit to fit the new thing in without taking stock and actually jettisoning something less worthy or necessary.

I guess you, like us, are trying to reach agreement on a new Enterprise Agreement for the school. We are struggling with the idea of getting a handle on controlling workload. It has even been suggested that we would be prepared to trade some salary for some control of our workload. Of course, it isn’t that simple, and in some ways it is a cop-out. It is a temptation to look for someone to blame for the fact that we work 50 hours a week and fall into a heap in the first week of the holidays so that we are no use to anyone. The reality is that we do it to ourselves,

mostly – or to each other. Our current principal, G… works really hard herself (I’ve always thought it would be the job from hell!!) and has her own goals and pressures to meet. The trouble is that her priorities overlay our own priorities and we are too exhausted or demoralised or timid to do anything about it. Apart from her requirements, we are driven by our own vision of how we can be the ‘best’ school in the district, which means competing with all the others in the things we offer. Often the focus is well away from actually teaching and curriculum, and takes us into areas of marketing and optional extras, catching the enthusiasms of colleagues or students for each new ‘thing’ which will ‘enrich’ the learning environment until we drop with exhaustion and realise that it is all at the expense of our core business, which is education. It would be nice to think that someone ‘out there’ would come in and rescue us from ourselves, but really we wouldn’t appreciate it and anyway, no-one understands it like we do. We just need to take a little more control of the agenda and set our own parameters and learn to set limits before we fall over! I don’t know whether we will ever get to that point. At this stage our staff are just hoping that some miraculous document will appear which will solve all our problems. As I said, it’s a cop-out!

I haven’t had a chance to tell you about our wonderful trip to PNG. There is no room in this letter, but we must meet some time and chat. Suffice it to say that I have been given the opportunity to re-evaluate some of my attitudes to the hype which surrounds schools (and indeed life) in this country. It is a salutary reminder that the teaching process is essentially a relational one between teacher and learner and all the gimmickry in the world won’t replace that. Of course under primitive conditions it will only be the brightest and best who come through the system and go on to succeed. But I have a new appreciation of the qualities of the community leaders who have come through that system and acknowledge that they must be pretty special indeed. One of the great thrills of the trip was to meet Papua New Guineans who have come from village communities through a competitive system and now have academic degrees and a passion for their work which is inspirational. We hear an awful lot of grim news through our media, which seems to thrive on stories of graft and corruption, disaster and gloom but there is another side which we should be celebrating. I have a great set of pictures and a lot of addresses and am embarking on a project of keeping in touch. Oh yes, that is the other thing a part-timer has time to do – write letters. How many teachers fit letter-writing into their busy lives – and yet, as my mother used to say – ‘A letter is a gift’ – and it is a pleasure to write and to receive. I have added that to my list of resolutions for my new part-time status!!

Next time you’re over, make sure it includes a Tuesday!

EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

Love Jenny

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EdU September 2014 IEU(SA)

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