Enough is enough: No More Freebies campaign explodes into action!

One week into the No More Freebies campaign, it’s clear that IEU members across the state are ready to do whatever is necessary to get recalcitrant employers to drop their toxic proposals to make our schools second-rate workplaces.

One member sums up the attitude of so many others:

“I’m not staying at school for non-scheduled classes (where practical for me). I’m not replying to ANY email that is received outside of work hours. I’m not doing any lesson planning at home. I’m not opting to get paid for extras over the quota (payment has been offered by Principal to those who’ve already hit their quota). This is my new M.O. - and not just for the duration of the ‘no freebies’ campaign. I’m sticking to this for the rest of my time in teaching. Enough is enough.”

“Enough is enough” resonates through all the other responses the IEU is seeing.

Given how many ‘extra’ duties education staff have been performing for so long, without measures to address workload intensification, it hasn’t been too hard for them to find things they can jettison in pursuit of workload improvements already long since settled in every other Victorian school.

Members at one school voted to not provide students with written feedback on trial exams.

Some sub-branches have agreed that IEU members won’t be attending extra-curricular after-hours activities such as sport and art shows. Others have determined that at all events attended by parents they will hand out flyers outlining the dispute and linking to the community support petition.

At another school, members are boycotting an awards night and took leave on a day on the first day of term – because students weren’t back, and it didn’t affect teaching and learning.

One Rep reported, “After a very helpful call to the union office, I just reminded the members that we don't HAVE to attend Year 12 grad mass as it's after 6pm on a Friday.” That member forwarded the No More Freebies campaign email to all staff at their school and encouraged them to stop going “above and beyond”.

Other members will not be attending “morning briefings, whole staff meetings, assemblies, prayer or mass”.

Another member reports, “We are not accepting extra yard duties or replacement classes that are scheduled in lieu of a lesson outside that scheduled lesson time. Teachers are staying home if they have no scheduled duties.”

One Rep suggested that exhausted and frustrated members who choose not to attend a staff meeting to e-mail their apology “signed with their name and signature - IEU Member”.

Education staff are thoughtful, intelligent people devoted to their students and each other. They are absorbing union head office suggestions, assessing what peers at other schools are doing, then developing and taking actions appropriate to their school. In this way, a plethora of different actions with the same goal are taking effect, without needlessly disruption to core student needs.

For those seeking inspiration, here’s a reminder of the core No More Freebies campaign message: “No attendance on school campuses outside of scheduled duties. No additional extras for secondary teachers. No combined classes exceeding class-size limits. No opening classrooms early or hanging around at the end of the day ‘in case parents want a chat’ for primary teachers. No ‘voluntary but encouraged’ attendance at information nights, concerts, fetes, or mass. No to anything outside the classification descriptors for Education Support Staff. No to overtime requests. No to ‘I know you’re busy, but would you mind just…”

And here are some of the actions and ideas your peers have already enacted in order to ratchet up pressure on these tone-deaf employers to achieve a just deal:

SCHOOL A:

The detailed plan here is for gradual escalation:

Weeks 1-3: members will not communicate about work matters after-hours unless related to an emergency or unexpected illness; members are encouraged to avoid working (planning, marking, etc.) after hours.

Weeks 3-5: members will not attend additional before or after school meetings (before 8:30pm or after 4:00pm) other than those on the meeting schedule; members will only attend mandatory meetings for the length specified (i.e. leave scheduled meetings at scheduled end).

Weeks 6-7: members will not accept additional student/parent meetings or duties that require voluntary sacrifices to protected time (i.e. outside of contracted hours). Examples include: SSGs, moderation meetings, revision sessions, last-minute extras or covers, etc.

Weeks 8-9: members will be encouraged to leave computers at school when leaving end-of-day and cease all other voluntary (i.e. outside of contracted hours) work.

SCHOOL B

At the school, the message was: “Each member will action these items as they wish and are supported no matter what decision they make or level of action regarding the campaign.”

Their entire list extends to pages, but here’s some edited highlights:

• Members will not attend any meeting on the College calendar published after 2/11/22

• Members will not leave extras when absent due to personal leave

• Members will not communicate about work matters after hours including student communications (unless an emergency)

• Members will decline any overtime requests.

• Members will not attend lunch time meetings

• Members will not provide assistance/supervision at Year 12 Mass and/or Graduation Dinner if attending (unless part of their role description)

• All members are to be under no obligation to assist with the Year 12 last few weeks activities e.g., Mass, breakfast, assembly etc.

• Members will not provide assistance/supervision at information nights, concerts, fetes etc (unless part of their role description)

• Members will consider not going on excursions/camps unless they are solely within their scheduled class time or time in lieu is provided

• Members will not attend assemblies unless they are during their scheduled class time

• Members will leave the work place whenever do not have scheduled duties (where practical) or will make themselves unavailable when they do not have scheduled duties

• Members will avoid working/planning outside of hours when practical

• Members will ask leadership for time in lieu for any task they are asked to do that is above what is legally required.

Principal Support

Finally, it’s important to note the amazing support by many principals for this new step of the campaign. We know that they have been put in a very tough position – but also that for the most part they also just want this deal done. They don’t want to have to offer inferior employment conditions, they don’t want to see their staff feeling demoralised and undervalued, they don’t want uncertainty as they work on their plans for 2023.

In many cases, principals and school leaders have been very prepared to have constructive discussions with IEU Reps about how to run a local, visible and effective campaign while minimising the effect on students. Some principals have directly contacted the IEU expressing their wholehearted support for the campaign. Others have directly communicated to employers their support for actions planned by the sub-branch in their school, along with a plea to get this deal done. We were particularly taken with this excerpt from a communication from a principal to their school’s governing employer:

“As always, the staff at [school] have demonstrated their reasoned thinking in committing to fair, just, and reasonable responses to the current industrial situation, and have balanced this with their commitment to our students… As I know you are aware, this is impacting significantly on our ability to plan for next year and is causing some level of angst amongst staff who work incredibly hard to do the right thing by the young people of [school]"

Amen to that!

The Herald Sun reports on the start of the No More Freebies campaign.