Subject: Support our petition for fair bargaining rights

SUPPORT OUR PETITION FOR FAIR BARGAINING RIGHTS

Dear colleague, 

As the elected Independent Education Union sub-branch Rep at our workplace, I’m contacting all staff with an important update as we prepare to begin negotiations for a new Agreement to protect and improve our pay and working conditions. 

The IEU is seeking a Single Interest Authorisation (SIA) to ensure we have the bargaining rights we need and deserve – such as the right to take protected industrial action or seek bargaining assistance from the Fair Work Commission. 

The Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) continues to refuse to apply for a SIA, leaving us at a serious disadvantage in bargaining. We are being denied basic rights that are available to most Australian workers, including our colleagues in interstate Catholic education and in Victorian government schools. 

If we commence negotiations under their so-called ‘cooperative’ model, we may be prevented from successfully applying for an SIA for many months, locking us out of our fundamental industrial rights during the most important stages of bargaining. Employers could apply for a SIA now and enable bargaining to proceed fairly and without stripping fundamental rights from over 30,000 employees. 

As educators, we don’t want to take disruptive action. But as workers, we know that the right to do so is a vital bargaining chip, and without this we are simply begging employers for badly-needed improvements to our working conditions. Our colleagues in NSW Catholic education recently secured major pay rises off the back of industrial action, and we need to achieve increases in excess of 10% just to catch up. 

That’s why I’m asking all staff in our workplace to sign this petition <link>: we need to demonstrate to the VCEA that the majority of employees demand a level playing field in negotiations.  

If they continue to refuse, we may need to undertake a more formal process of collecting staff signatures closer to the expiry date of the current Agreement in December to assist the IEU in making an application to the Fair Work Commission – but your support right now is vital.  

SUPPORT OUR PETITION FOR FAIR BARGAINING RIGHTS

Of course, if you are not currently a member of the IEU, there is one other incredibly important way you can help win this campaign for better pay and conditions – joining our union today! It’s our collective strength that counts at the bargaining table, and every new member makes a real difference.  

In unity