IT'S ON: It's time to take industrial action!
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.
Based on the results of the ballot, the IEU has notified the Employers that IEU members will start accessing their right to take industrial action. As we’re required to do we’ve given notice that from Tuesday 27 August IEU members will take partial work ban action, withholding their labour by not answering or responding to phone calls and emails, not attending meetings before and after school, and not doing work outside of the school day.
We know that the work you do in schools matters and that withholding your labour may feel uncomfortable, but it is a necessary step to maintain pressure on the Employers to resolve the outstanding matters at the bargaining table to deliver you a fair and reasonable deal without further delay. This will allow you and your schools to get back to your important work.
Today we met with Catholic Education Tasmania for a full day of bargaining negotiations and we’re pleased to share that member’s endorsement of the PABO resulted in real momentum at the table. The deal isn’t done but we appear to have moved closer to agreement around some key issues that we know really matter to members.
The IEU are committed to continuing to bargain in good faith and getting this deal done. We are meeting with the Employers again on Monday 26 August and they have the opportunity to resolve this matter before industrial action starts. If the Employers do not take advantage of that opportunity, they know that IEU members are committed to continuing to intensify protected industrial action in the following weeks in support of getting this deal done.
What are partial work bans?
The protected industrial actions we’ll be taking from 8am Tuesday 27 August are partial work bans. Partial work bans are industrial action that is not:
a failure or refusal by an employee to attend work
a failure or refusal by an employee to complete any work
an overtime ban.
In more plain terms, a partial work ban means that you’re attending work, and you’re doing work, but you’re refusing to do some tasks.
What action are we taking?
From 8:00am on Tuesday 27 August:
add the following statement to your email signature and in your automatic replies to your emails:
“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.”
don’t open, read, answer or respond to emails
don’t answer, make or respond to phone calls
don’t attend meetings before or after classes
don’t attend out of hours events including meetings, information nights, camps, events
don’t do work after hours.
Will I face any repercussions for taking action?
Under the Fair Work Act, if an employee engages in protected industrial action that is a partial work ban, the employer can choose to reduce the employee’s pay by a proportion.
If your employer chooses to do this, they will need to provide notice and justify the deduction by providing a calculation that takes into account the work that the employee is refusing to perform, the usual time the employee would spend performing that work during a day, and work out the time as a percentage of the employee’s usual hours of work for that day.
We believe it is highly unlikely that the employer will engage in the huge administrative tasks of working out the relevant deductions for each and every employee who engages in these partial work bans, but we want to let you know that it’s a possibility.
Your protections
As an IEU member, the Fair Work Act protects you from adverse action if you take or propose to take protected industrial action. You cannot be disciplined or treated differently in anyway by your employer or any other person for your participation in protected industrial action. If you experience any adverse treatment from any person as a result of your participation in this campaign, please reach out to the IEU immediately.
Between now and Tuesday
Make sure IEU members at your school are fully informed about the plans for industrial action. Download the fact sheet below which includes everything from this email and share it with them. Remember: only IEU members can take protected industrial action!
Take a solidarity photo on Tuesday with IEU members at your school and email it to us at ThePoint@ieuvictas.org.au – our solidarity is powerful and we want to ensure IEU members see that action is taking place at Catholic school across Tasmania.
