School workers say flat no to teacher pay deal

Hundreds of school workers have unanimously rejected the state government’s wage offer in an early sign that attempts to settle the long-running dispute with the education workforce may face trouble.

Education support (ES) employees in the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) have voted 100 per cent to reject the offer of a 24 per cent wage increase over four years – up to 6 per cent less than what some of their teaching colleagues have been offered.

Hundreds of school nurses, who are with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, have also baulked at accepting the deal.

The nurses’ union has not rejected the deal outright but has lodged a counter-proposal with the Department of Education.

The rejection from CPSU members comes as the Australian Education Union (AEU), which represents more than 60,000 public school employees – among a total workforce of about 85,000 – works to persuade its members to accept the four-year deal offering pay rises of 28 to 32 per cent for teachers and principals and 24 per cent for educational support workers.

But the AEU leadership faces a well-organised and determined campaign of opposition from teachers and ES workers who are urging union members to reject the deal, agreed between the union bargaining delegates and the state government.

The internal opposition wants the unions to stick with its original demand of 35 per cent over three years for all school workers, and to stage a repeat of the strike action that brought 35,000 educators onto the streets of Melbourne’s CBD in March.

The bulk of the workforce will vote on the agreement over the coming weeks in a school-by-school ballot process.

If union members vote to accept the deal, a workforce-wide ballot will then be held.

An email sent to members by the CPSU’s branch secretary Jiselle Hanna on Monday, and seen by The Age, outlined the key sticking points for her members.

“The offer does not provide genuine, ongoing wage increases that keep pace with inflation and cost-of-living pressures, particularly given its heavy reliance on one-off, lump-sum payments rather than permanent salary growth,” Hanna wrote.

“The offer appears to widen the gap between teachers and ES staff, creating a two-tiered outcome that does not properly value the contribution of ES employees.”

The lack of movement on a key long-term workplace demand for ES employees, paid lunch breaks, was also unpopular among the CPSU members, Hanna wrote.

“Proposals around unpaid meal breaks and allowances fail to address ongoing unpaid work and do not deliver clear, enforceable entitlements,” the union leader wrote.

Hanna declined on Wednesday to comment either on the email or the union’s vote.

Labour movement sources, not authorised to discuss the matter publicly, said the CPSU members had voted unanimously against the agreement.

The nurses and CPSU members are a small minority in the vast public education workforce, and the verdict of the 11,000 unionised education support workers in the AEU will be a much greater factor in the fate of the deal.

AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said on Wednesday that the proposal would bring real benefits to the school support workers.

“An experienced ES who works in a classroom with students will receive over $34,000 more in pay over the life of the agreement,” the union leader said.

“For the first time, education support staff will be able to have four days per year free from their usual duties to undertake planning, preparation, collaboration and professional development.

“A new allowance recognises the duty-of-care responsibilities of ES, including during lunch breaks.”

Education Minister Ben Carroll also urged school workers to vote for the deal.

“This agreement delivers real outcomes for all education staff, and we encourage its full support,” the minister said.

“Our dedicated education support staff will see similar pay rises to teachers over the next four years, including allowances.

“This recognises the significant value and expertise education support staff bring to our classrooms.”

The Nurses and Midwifery Federation secretary Maddy Harradence confirmed that her union had put a counter-proposal to the government, but did not provide details.

“ANMF (Victoria branch) provided a counter-offer as is the normal process in the course of EBA negotiations,” Harradence said on Friday.

“ANMF will discuss the offer with members shortly and next steps will be guided by the outcomes of those meetings.”

Separately, the union for the state’s 30,000 Catholic school teachers says a strike at the sector’s 493 schools in term 3 of the school year is becoming more likely.

The Independent Education Union (IEU) and the Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) will face off across five days at the Fair Work Commission this month, with the union seeking the right to take the educators – who are employed by 34 separate church-linked entities – off the job as a single workforce.

The union is pursuing a 37 per cent pay rise over three years with a $5000 sign-on bonus, after the educators last October voted against a proposed 7 per cent up-front annual increase, with further pay rises linked to the final settlement for government school teachers.

The union says the two sides are a long way apart in their negotiations for a new workplace agreement, with the IEU claiming the authority had rejected 100 out of 113 negotiating points.

The VCEA said on Friday that it was continuing to work through the negotiation process and was hopeful of achieving an agreement in a timely manner with minimal disruption to schools.

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