IEU General Secretary David Brear says the upcoming Victorian Catholic campaign is about pay

The current Agreements covering Catholic schools in Victoria expire at the end of 2025 and we have already begun the process of preparing the campaign for their replacement.

In early 2025, we’ll survey members in Catholic schools to see what improvements they need made to their working conditions. This input will guide the union’s democratic process to create an official list of demands for a Log of Claims.

We already know that significant wage increases will be high on the list. Over the past year, the IEU and AEU have successfully raised education sector wages in other states, leaving Victorian teacher wages lagging behind and unacceptably low. Combined with rising living costs, this pay gap is creating real financial pressure for Victorian members.

The IEU has commissioned experienced consultant Patrick Lee to work with us to develop a wage claim which we will put to members in early 2025. Already, his research shows that wage increases of over 10% are needed to match rates in NSW schools and that education professionals’ pay has declined relative to other fields over the past decade.

The current Agreements for Catholic schools in Victoria achieved breakthrough workload improvements: teachers now have 1.5 hours less face-to-face teaching each week, and starting next year, secondary teachers will not be assigned extra classes beyond their regular schedules. The introduction of time in lieu and the 30+8 model for the first time put additional limits on what teachers could be asked to do.

Implementation of these new measures has not been easy as some employers have sought to find ways around giving their staff the workload improvements they need and deserve. These same employers then wonder why they are struggling to find staff!

So, on top of the big wage increases we will be seeking, we know that we will need to tighten up existing workload improvement provisions so employers are denied any space to avoid them.

The union’s in-principle deal in Tasmanian Catholic schools offers inspiration – and lessons – for the upcoming campaign for significant wage increases in the Victorian Catholic sector.

Our union has been consumed by needlessly drawn-out negotiations in Tasmanian Catholic schools for the best part of the past three years. It was only when IEU members began taking protected industrial action and Catholic employers in that state got real and dropped some of their ridiculous claims that we were able to get a deal done to present to members. This was a huge effort by our Reps and members and an important reminder for us as a union about the need to build power and campaigning capacity.

We are making significant internal changes to our structures at the IEU to swing more dedicated resources into organising and campaigning so we can build power and then optimise its use in powerful campaigning, including industrial action when needed.

The Victorian Catholic sector campaign will build on our success in Tassie. We are absolutely determined to win but expect that the employers are not just going to roll over and give us what we want. We are in for a fight.

Independent sector

As of mid-November, we had finalised 11 Agreements in Victorian independent schools, eight were at the Fair Work Commission for approval and we were actively bargaining on another 18 deals. In Tasmania, seven deals had been approved and we were at the table bargaining on a further three.

The independent school sector continues to grow more quicky than Catholic schools and we have begun adapting to that reality with our planning and resourcing.

Independent schools are grappling with many of the same challenges as other schools: staff  shortages, increased workloads, limited teacher autonomy, and inflexible work patterns, but each school in the independent sector is unique and requires bespoke attention.

Through enterprise bargaining the IEU has negotiated some of the workload improvements achieved in Catholic schools into Agreements, but the process is slow with some schools still resisting even committing to maintaining their existing caps on face-to-face teaching time.

We have won some great improvements to conditions including parental leave and have started to see also wages trending up. Again in 2025, we will campaign vigorously in independent schools to raise wages to the levels already offered in other states.

New workplace laws

Long overdue changes in industrial relations legislation will continue to make a difference to workers in 2025, especially the new delegate’s rights laws, which offer five days of paid leave for initial Rep training and an additional day each year that they remain in the role. These news laws are already having an impact in independent schools where IEU Reps have never before had rights to attend training.

The federal opposition has vowed to roll back many of these important changes if they are elected, and we urge all Australian workers to get behind the union movement’s support for the Closing Loopholes legislation, which has improved everything from casual work rights to parental leave and domestic violence leave entitlements.

The union is its reps and members

The most important people in our union are always our sub-branch Reps. They volunteer their time to support members in the workplace, encourage their colleagues, consult with union staff, and engage in often difficult discussions with school leadership, all within increasingly complex and demanding environments. They play a key role in school negotiations and in supporting both internal and external campaigns. We will continue to support and train Reps to continue their vital work.

This is the final year of the current Rep cycle, so elections will be held early next year in every sub-branch. If you are a current Rep stepping down from the role, I really want to thank you for the work that you have done. Whatever the case, it is vital that in every school we have a Rep as our capacity to build effective power depends on it.

Have a good break

There’s still some time to go before some of you get to knock off but whatever you have got planned over the summer break I’d like to extend my best wishes to you. The work of our members is super important but also very demanding, so I sincerely hope that you find some time to relax.