Staff majorities at a majority of Victorian Catholic schools back fair bargaining!

More than 250 schools across our target employers have now reached majority support for fair bargaining – and more than 100 workplaces have reached 70 per cent support or higher!

Support across the state has now passed 13,000, with MACS closing in on 10,000!

That’s well ahead of our MACS numbers from last year, and clearly puts us in majority territory - but after the extraordinary legal efforts employers went to last time around to dispute our numbers, we know that we need the kind of majority that can’t be contested.

Every additional Petition of Support strengthens our position and makes it harder for employers to stand in the way of staff securing the bargaining rights they deserve.

Majority support keeps spreading

Last week, 215 workplaces had reached 50 per cent support - that number has now grown to 250!

More than half the schools in MACS, Sale, Ballarat and Sandhurst now have majority support.

And the support is becoming deeper as well as broader: over 100 workplaces have reached over 70% support, and more than 20 have passed the very impressive milestone of 90% support!

This means that in more and more workplaces, staff are not simply reaching majority support – they are building the kind of overwhelming support that employers cannot credibly dismiss.

The leaderboard is getting harder to crack

The competition to get in our Top 50 leaderboard is heating up, with workplaces now needing to record nearly 80% staff support to make the cut.

And there has been some serious movement, with the most impressive growth this week coming from a range of schools including St Mark’s School Dingley, Iona College Geelong, St Bede’s Bentleigh, Borinya Wangaratta Community Partnership, St Joachim’s Carrum Downs and St Andrew’s Clayton South.

Our updated Top 50 diocesan workplaces

1. St Peter’s School – Keilor East (MACS)

2. Our Lady of the Rosary School – Kyneton (MACS)

3. St Anne’s School – Kew East (MACS)

4. St Oliver Plunkett’s School – Pascoe Vale (MACS)

5. St Joseph’s College – Ferntree Gully (MACS)

6. St Richard’s School – Kilsyth (MACS)

7. Sacred Heart School – Morwell (DOSCEL)

8. St Mary’s School – Alexandra (MACS)

9. St James’ School – Sebastopol (DOBCEL)

10. St Monica’s School – Footscray (MACS)

11. Queen of Peace School – Altona Meadows (MACS)

12. St Clare’s School – Thomastown West (MACS)

13. St John’s School – Heidelberg (MACS)

14. St Therese’s School – Essendon (MACS)

15. St Mark’s School – Dingley (MACS)

16. St Philip’s School – Blackburn North (MACS)

17. St Laurence O’Toole’s School – Leongatha (DOSCEL)

18. Holy Cross Catholic Primary School – Mickleham (MACS)

19. St John Bosco’s School – Niddrie (MACS)

20. Marymede Catholic College – Doreen (MACS)

21. St Francis of Assisi School – Tarneit (MACS)

22. St James’ School – Brighton (MACS)

23. St Catherine of Siena School – Armstrong Creek (MACS)

24. St Francis Xavier’s School – Corio (MACS)

25. St Patrick’s School – Port Fairy (DOBCEL)

26. St Joseph’s School – Wonthaggi (DOSCEL)

27. St Paul’s School – Monbulk (MACS)

28. St Mary MacKillop School – Bannockburn (MACS)

29. Thomas Carr College – Tarneit (MACS)

30. St Therese’s School – Cranbourne (DOSCEL)

31. St Thomas the Apostle School – Cranbourne East (DOSCEL)

32. St Joseph’s School – Boronia (MACS)

33. St Kevin’s School – Hampton Park (MACS)

34. St Joseph’s School – Springvale (MACS)

35. Padua College – Tyabb (MACS)

36. St Augustine’s School – Keilor (MACS)

37. Ave Maria College – Aberfeldie (MACS)

38. Marian College – Myrtleford (CESL (Sandhurst))

39. St Luke’s School – Lalor (MACS)

40. St Bernard’s School – Bacchus Marsh (MACS)

41. St Patrick’s School – Kilmore (MACS)

42. St Mary’s School – Cohuna (CESL (Sandhurst))

43. St Mary’s School – Lancefield (MACS)

44. Lisieux Catholic Primary School – Torquay North (MACS)

45. St Thomas’ School – Sale (DOSCEL)

46. St Patrick’s School – Mentone (MACS)

47. Catholic Regional College St Albans – St Albans (MACS)

48. St Margaret’s School – Geelong East (MACS)

49. St Joseph’s School – Mernda (MACS)

50. Annunciation School – Brooklyn (MACS)

How is your diocese tracking?

The statewide Top 50 tells only part of the story. Across Melbourne, Sale, Ballarat and Sandhurst, Reps and members continue to build extraordinary levels of local support.

Our Week 5 diocesan leaderboards show plenty of familiar names holding strong – but there are some notable movers as well.

At DOSCEL, St Thomas’ School Sale has climbed to number six, while St Joseph’s Trafalgar and St Joseph’s Korumburra are now firmly among the diocesan leaders.

At DOBCEL, Siena Catholic Primary School Lucas has entered the Top 10.

And Sandhurst has seen some particularly strong movement. Sacred Heart School Tatura has surged into the diocesan Top 3, while new support at Borinya Wangaratta Community Partnership has lifted it to number four.

Can you get your school onto next week’s list?

Reaching majority support is worth celebrating - but our experience last year showed us exactly why we cannot stop there.

We need big majorities across every employer group.

If your workplace has reached 50 per cent, keep going!

Every additional signer strengthens the collective case and helps build a margin that cannot credibly be disputed.

And if your workplace has not yet reached majority support, there is still time to move.

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We need to keep talking, keep signing and keep building until the level of support is unmistakable. 

Speak with your colleagues, share the petition and help build the overwhelming majority we need to secure fair bargaining rights. 

If you work at CESL (Sandhurst), Catholic College Sale, DOBCEL (Ballarat), DOSCEL (Sale), FCJ College Benalla, MacKillop Family Services, MACS (Melbourne), MACS Specialist Schools, St Bede’s College, St Columba’s College or the VCEA: 

Sign the Petition of Support now

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