Subject: The VCEA “offer” – what it really means, and why it matters 

Dear colleagues, 

You will be aware of the VCEA’s so-called “offer” to staff. It’s important to understand: this is not a negotiated outcome. It’s a response to the growing pressure from staff in Victorian Catholic education campaigning for a Single Interest Authorisation (SIA), which would finally give us the same bargaining rights as our colleagues in Catholic education interstate and in Victorian government schools. These are the rights we need to negotiate meaningful, long-term improvements to our salaries and conditions. Accepting the current  “offer” now would effectively mean giving up the opportunity to win far more at the bargaining table. 

On Friday, we are all being asked to say whether we support this employer “offer”. Before you make your decision, you need to know that the VCEA’s “offer”: 

• Entrenches interstate pay disparity, leaving us thousands of dollars behind our colleagues in NSW.  

• May leave us falling behind pay in Victorian government schools, which are likely to include scale adjustments, bonuses, and allowances not included in the VCEA’s offer. 

• Cuts Education Support Staff leave arrangements. 

• Fails to address career-limiting Education Support Staff salary classifications. 

• Enforces stricter attendance hours for teachers, and deducts personal leave even when not on scheduled duties. 

• Does nothing to improve Time in Lieu arrangements. 

• Neglects urgently needed conditions around workload, safety and wellbeing. 

• Blatantly undermines legal protections which are meant to ensure that employers cannot evade negotiating in good faith with staff to achieve an agreement that looks after everyone.  

In contrast, the IEU’s Log of Claims, developed and endorsed by members, sets out a fair and achievable vision: 

• Fair pay that keeps pace with other states and sectors 

• Real workload relief 

• Better classifications and career structures for Education Support staff 

• Improved safety and wellbeing measures 

• Genuine consultation rights for staff 

There are three things I ask you to do: 

1. Join the IEU’s online information session tomorrow afternoon (Thursday 16 October). Hear directly from IEU leaders about what this “offer” really means, how an SIA empowers staff, and how we can stand together for better outcomes. Register here.

2. Add your Statement of Support for Fair Bargaining Rights 
   The most important thing you can do right now is sign a Statement of Support for an SIA. That way Catholic staff can bargain fairly for better pay and conditions. Signatures are confidential, but they show the Fair Work Commission the majority of us want a fair process. 

3. Make sure you are informed before responding to the VCEA survey on Friday. Is the suggested one-off increase worth it, if it means trading away our existing conditions, and our ability to work together to achieve truly competitive salaries and real improvements to our working conditions? As your colleague and as the elected Rep at our workplace, I advise all staff here to say "NO". 

Together, we can make sure decisions about our work and our schools are made with us, not for us.

In unity, 
[Name] 
IEU Rep