IEU members in Tasmanian Catholic schools have spoken!

IEU members in Tasmanian Catholic schools have overwhelmingly voted YES in favour of taking all 18 forms of protected industrial action in support of a fair Agreement. This is an astounding result and a clear sign that members are frustrated with Catholic Education Tasmania and are prepared to step up their action.

IEU members voted on 18 potential industrial actions ranging from messages on emails to multiple full-day stoppages. No option received less than 80% support and six received well over 90% Yes votes.

The results to each question on the ballot are listed below.

These results mean that IEU members are now legally entitled to take 18 different types of protected industrial action. The IEU will need to provide written notice to the Employer at least 120 hours before any planned action specifying the nature of the action and the day it will start.

How did IEU members vote on each question in the ballot?

In support of reaching an Enterprise Agreement with your employer, do you authorise protected industrial action against your Employer, separately, concurrently and/or consecutively, in the form of: 

1. An unlimited number of bans or limitations on answering or making telephone calls, or responding to voicemails, or sending or responding to emails or other electronic communication?

   91.8% YES

2. Indefinite or periodic industrial action in the form of a typed statement at the footer of each email. “The following message is authorised protected industrial action under the Fair Work Act 2009: I am taking protected industrial action for fair pay and a fair deal for all Catholic education school workers.”? 

   91.6% YES

3. An unlimited number of stoppages of work for the duration of one (1) hour? 

   93.5% YES

4. An unlimited number of stoppages of work for the duration of two (2) hours? 

   89.2% YES

5. An unlimited number of stoppages of work for the duration of four (4) hours? 

   83.7% YES

6. An unlimited number of stoppages of work for the duration of twenty-four (24) hours? 

   80.0% YES

7. An unlimited number of stoppages or interruptions of work for 30 minutes to distribute information to students, parents and others about the action and bargaining? 

   83.7% YES

8. An unlimited number of stoppages or interruptions of work for 10 minutes to affix to clothing or to wear campaign material and/or badges? 

   84.1% YES

9. An unlimited number of bans on attending meetings before the commencement of classes? 

   93.3% YES

10. An unlimited number of bans on attending meetings after the conclusion of classes?

    95.3% YES

11. Indefinite or periodic bans on performing work after hours, or attendance at after hour events? 

    94.9% YES

12. Indefinite or periodic ban on writing student reports? 

    83.5% YES

13. Indefinite or periodic bans on collecting or recording student data for the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) program? 

    80.4% YES

14. Indefinite or periodic bans on answering telephone calls? 

    86.1% YES

15. Indefinite or periodic bans on opening or reading emails? 

    84.7% YES

16. An unlimited number of bans on attending morning yard duty? 

    85.1% YES

17. An unlimited number of bans on attending recess yard duty and/or lunch yard duty? 

    83.5% YES

18. An unlimited number of bans on attending homestead duty? 

    81.2% YES

What happens next?

The IEU is meeting with Catholic Education Tasmania on Thursday 22 August for another round of bargaining negotiations. We will send all IEU members an email update to let you know the outcome of this and the plan for taking industrial action.

The IEU will need to provide written notice to the Employer of at least 120 hours before any planned action specifying the nature of the action and the day it will start.

Before we give written notice to management, we will consult with IEU members and Reps in Tasmanian Catholic schools to discuss what action they agree to take and the potential effects of this.

During a period of industrial action, the employer may take out ‘employer response action’ or may decide to stand down employees without pay. They might also not pay or alter payments to employees implementing a work ban or partial work ban. This will be discussed with members in more detail before any decisions are made about industrial actions and we notify any industrial action. 

The industrial action must start within 30 days, unless the IEU applies for an extension and the Fair Work Commission agrees.

Only IEU members specified in the protected action ballot order are allowed to take protected industrial action. Make sure IEU members at your school have read this article and are getting our updates.