A NOTE FROM SCHOOL COUNCIL

AEU Dispute re: School Staff Pay and Conditions

As parents and carers may be aware, staff at our school who are Australian Education Union (AEU) members have been negotiating, alongside teachers, education support staff, assistant principals, and principals from public schools around Victoria, with the state government and Department of Education for improvements to pay and employment conditions.

Negotiations have been ongoing for the past 7 months, and the state government has not made any offer to date. Currently, Victorian public schools are the lowest funded in Australia, and there are significant staffing shortages across Victoria. Victorian public-school teachers are also the lowest-paid teachers in Australia, with many education support employees and school leaders paid less than their colleagues in other states and territories who do the same role.

AEU members are seeking pay increases and reductions in excessive workloads to ensure the retention of existing employees and attract the next generation, enabling the ongoing provision of high-quality education to students. Because there has not been any offer, AEU members are undertaking a vote to endorse industrial action, with the union calling a statewide 24-hour stopwork for Tuesday 24 March, should the government not respond properly to key claims. The AEU has written to our school council outlining some of the issues that school staff need resolved, including school funding and staffing shortages, as well as pay and conditions.

 The union acknowledges that a decision to stop work is not to be taken lightly and regrets the impact it has on students and their families. The state government can avoid such action if a fair and decent offer is made to employees. It goes without saying that, as a school community, we support all staff and expect them to be paid fairly and to have fair working conditions.

 For more information, you can read the AEU’s letter here.- Hamish Doake (School Council President) on behalf of the Dinjerra School Council.