Teachers and support staff in nearly 300 Queensland Catholic schools across the state have voted no to an employer attempt to cut current working conditions.
The outcome of the recent employee ballot for Queensland Diocesan schools saw 51 per cent of voters reject the agreement.
Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) Branch Secretary Terry Burke said employees had sent a clear message to their employers.
“Queensland Catholic school employees in the five Dioceses (Brisbane, Cairns, Rockhampton, Toowoomba, and Townsville) have voted to stop the cuts to their current rights at work,” Mr Burke said.
“These employees have also voted to make it clear to their employers that they must hear our voice on the critical issues facing staff in Queensland Catholic schools. Employees want action from their employers on unsustainable workloads. Employees also want their employers to provide wage justice through a contemporary wage scale for school support staff.”
Negotiations set to continue in new school term
Mr Burke said he anticipated negotiations with Queensland Diocesan school employers would resume in early October.
The employer-proposed agreement for staff working in Queensland Religious Institute (RI) and Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) schools was approved in a separate ballot, with 4 in 10 employees rejecting the proposal.
These employers are now entitled to make application to have the agreement approved by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) and it would come into operation seven (7) days following the Commission’s approval.
This was originally published as a media release by the Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT), which represents more than 17,000 teachers, school support staff, principals, early childhood education and VET and RTO employees across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
