A shameful anniversary: two years since the last pay rise for most Victorian Catholic education staff
Today, 1 October 2022, marks 730 days since the last pay rise for staff in most Victorian Catholic schools. Two years.
Sometimes you read something, and your mind just can’t accept that it’s true. It just doesn’t compute.
You have to re-read it:
“Today, 1 October 2022, marks 730 days since the last pay rise for staff in most Victorian Catholic schools. Two years.”
It’s too crazy – staff in government schools and in Catholic schools in the Sale diocese sorted this out months ago. The work we all do is fundamentally the same. So how can it be that these 25,000 employees still don’t have a deal?
Maybe looking at that number will help:
730.
730 days.
Two years.
Nope, not helping. The sentence still makes no sense.
Well, let’s try getting our heads around what happened to already overworked school staff in the last two years…
They planned and managed nine transitions between on-site and remote learning
They put in extraordinary efforts and immense amounts of overtime to support and educate students through hundreds of days of lockdown
They confronted the same $12 lettuces and spiralling bills as the rest of us
They kept working as COVID ripped through schools while many others were safe at home
They followed industry vaccine mandates
Many worked while ill; then redoubled their efforts, yet again, to cover for sick colleagues.
That all makes it even less conceivable that these education workers haven’t had their work recognised or rewarded. Is there any more information that could shed light on this?
Well…
The employers of these education heroes want them to accept lesser conditions than their colleagues for the same pay.
They are showing reckless disregard for the wellbeing of their own employees by trying to lock them into weaker workload and consultation provisions than their colleagues in the vast majority of Victorian schools.
Not helping.
730 days without an Agreement.
It is crazy. But it’s true.
That’s why we have to ratchet up our campaigning with the No More Freebies campaign. It seems it’s going to take something dramatic for these employers to do the right thing. One thing’s for sure – they’ve had enough time.
Just to underscore that, here’s what the world looked like 730 days ago, when these 25,000 staff last received a payrise.
1 October 2020
The first of October 2020 was a Thursday. It was day 275 of 2020.
On 1 October 2020:
- Scott Morrison is Australian Prime Minister.
- US President Donald Trump tests positive for the coronavirus.
- Boris Johnson is the current UK Prime Minister.
- The movie Tenet is at the top of the Box Office.
- Sean Connery and Diego Maradona are still alive.
- Richmond has just defeated Geelong at the Gabba to win the AFL Premiership. Future Cats Norm Smith medallist Isaac Smith is a Hawthorn player..
- New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces her resignation after the Independent Commission Against Corruption began investigating suspicious historical community grants.
- RBA keeps interest rates on hold at 0.25pc.
- Australia expands eligibility for the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines to include seniors over the age of 60.
730 days.
Two years.
It’s been too long.
It’s time for a deal.
NOW.
Two years is a LONG time.