Victorian teachers are fighting for an historic No vote to a union-recommended proposed agreement.
Australian Education Union (AEU) leaders have been confronted with vocal members arguing that the deal does not go far enough on pay and key conditions to make the profession sustainable.
The proposed agreement would result in pay rises of between 28 per cent and 32 per cent over four years. Given that our pay rises since 2020 have been lower than inflation, our pay would still have less purchasing power than it did in 2020. Wages went backwards by 11 per cent in real terms during the last agreement.
In addition, there are only minor improvements to conditions, including four more student-free days each year.
Education Support (ES) staff, crucially, are being offered a lower pay rise and their pay increase is being delivered partly through a 4 per cent annual allowance instead of an increase to their pay rate.
The AEU leadership admits that this arrangement could be removed by the Department of Education in the next agreement.
Vague position descriptions for ES are still resulting in ES staff being underclassified and underpaid for the work they do.
The AEU leadership is arguing that maintaining a reduction in face-to-face teaching won in the last agreement is a victory.
They rightly say that our fantastic strike on 24 March is what resulted in an improved offer. But at regional briefings they have also declared, without evidence, that more industrial action would lead to a drop in public support for teachers and school staff. This argument is having an influence in some workplaces, depleting the confidence of members.
Instead of building on the momentum and enthusiasm generated by the strike in March to escalate our campaign, the AEU leadership instead planned only a series of local rolling half-day strikes in different regions. These were then suspended before they even began on the basis of progress in negotiations.
Rank-and-file group Fight The Crisis has generated a detailed financial breakdown along with graphs that demonstrate how our real pay will still be less than it was in 2020, even after the planned pay rises.
No campaign
Dissenting Branch Councillors have been visiting sub-branches by invitation, providing an in-person briefing on the problems with the agreement that the AEU leadership are not presenting. Fight The Crisis is also doing its best to contact other workplaces to listen to members’ concerns and gauge support for a No vote.
More than 300 AEU members have signed a public pledge to vote No. Fight The Crisis has compiled a map showing that there are members planning to vote No all around Victoria. Our consistent experience is that when a workplace hears and has a chance to discuss the No case, they are persuaded to vote the agreement down.
The No vote campaign has been getting media attention. Lucy Honan, a dissenting Branch Councillor and Fight The Crisis member, was interviewed sympathetically by Channel 7, sending a strong message that we want equality of pay rises for teachers and support staff and a clear pathway for conditions that stop the burnout of school staff.
An article from teacher Jessica McGinnis in The Age explaining why she is voting no drew strong support on social media.
The Herald Sun has also approached Fight The Crisis for an opinion piece from a tired and angry teacher who is also a parent about why they are voting No, which will hopefully be published in the next week.
Two other unions with members covered by this agreement, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) also believe school staff deserve better and have either rejected the offer or made counteroffers.
The “business as usual” approach by AEU leadership is an inadequate response to the crisis in education in Victoria.
The 24 March strike and 40,000-strong protest of strikers and parent supporters on the day showed the impact we can have when members band together to take strong action.
The mainstream media interest in the No vote campaign shows that the public is actually on our side.
AEU members must spread the case for the No vote and prepare for further action. The vote will be finalised on 18 June.
By a Victorian AEU member
