IEU applies to the Fair Work Commission for a Single Interest Authorisation
History is in the making: today the IEU has applied to the Fair Work Commission for a Single Interest Authorisation (SIA) for bargaining in the Victorian Catholic education sector after an outstanding response to the union’s campaign for fair bargaining rights.
Majorities of staff at over two thirds of Catholic school employers have signed official statements of support seeking an SIA, to ensure they have fair bargaining rights in upcoming negotiations.
As such, today we have made an application for 24 employers to be covered by a Single Interest Authorisation. It is the IEU’s intention to continue to add new employers to this application as majorities are reached in each one, in order to ensure that we can commence fair negotiations for a single Agreement that meaningfully improves salaries and conditions for all staff employed in Victorian Catholic education.
The employers covered by today’s application are:
✅ Antonine College
✅ Catholic Ladies College
✅ Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Ltd
✅ Edmund Rice Education Australia
✅ FCJ College Benalla
✅ Genazzano FCJ College
✅ Jesuit Social Services
✅ Kildare Ministries
✅ Loreto Ballarat
✅ Marist Schools Australia
✅ Mater Christi College
✅ Mercy Education
✅ Monivae College
✅ Mount St Joseph Girls' College
✅ Our Lady of Sion College
✅ Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College
✅ Sacre Coeur
✅ Salesian College Chadstone
✅ Salesian College Sunbury
✅ Santa Maria College
✅ St Columba's College
✅ Star of the Sea College
✅ Villa Maria Catholic Homes
✅ Whitefriars College
Watch a video update from General Secretary David Brear above
“We set out for an eight-week campaign - we got over halfway there in just eight school days, and statements continue to roll in in their hundreds every day” says IEU General Secretary David Brear. “However, it’s now more important than ever for every staff member who hasn’t signed to do so – the more statements are signed at each school, the stronger our position will be.”
David says the union is redoubling efforts to secure an SIA, as employers’ actions reveal their hostility to staff – both union and non-union – having the fair bargaining rights already available to education workers in other states.
Just over 2 weeks ago, the Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA) made a purported “first and final offer” to staff which would entrench pay disparity, evade bargaining, and ignore a swathe of crucial workplace issues, including Education Support classifications, safety and workload alleviation.
A video message was then sent to all staff in which James Merlino, former politician and now chair of the VCEA, urged staff to take a short-term bonus at the expense of real pay rises and improved conditions.
Despite the practised smile and smooth delivery, the message was chilling: take $1500 now and forget about bargaining.
The VCEA then opened a survey intended to support an eventual application to the FWC for voting orders. The “survey” is actually a campaign pitch: it touts a $1,500 bonus, hides cuts to workplace conditions and offers no anonymity or independent oversight.
“The employers are not just trying to avoid fair bargaining processes with the union, they are trying to avoid bargaining full stop,” David said. “This ruthless take-it-or-leave-it approach makes it even more urgent that staff empower themselves with an SIA, which guarantees access to the independent industrial umpire (the Fair Work Commission) if negotiations stall.
“Without an SIA, employees are at the mercy of their employers – and the employers’ actions cannot be trusted on staff pay and conditions.
“The so-called “offer” of the employers would bind them into wages far below NSW colleagues – for four years. It also ignores safety and workload, both issues of huge concern to everyone working in the sector, and every other measure developed by the union through months of democratic consultation.”
David praised the “enormous efforts” of IEU Reps, members and staff in reaching thousands of colleagues with their message, despite employers’ attempts to silence Reps and hinder Organisers at schools. The union formally put employers on notice about breaches of delegate’s rights laws with this letter, which could lead to Federal Court action if not heeded.
Staff have signed in droves, responding to old-fashioned grassroots campaigning – in-person school visits, a massive calling blitz and online briefings.
The IEU is urging staff to say NO to the staff survey, scheduled to run until 24 October.
“Tell employers you want an SIA, and you don’t want their inferior so-called ‘offer’, David said. “They say you can say ‘Yes’ to both, but that’s ridiculous – they are diametrically opposed. Just say No!
“Let them know that you want a say in your pay and conditions, not just top-down, imposed dictates from penny pinching corporate employers.
“None of the people making these decisions about your workplaces have ever worked in your schools. They don’t care about your working conditions or know anything about them. Their job is to save a rich organisation more money.
“You deserve better – and by signing the statement of support, you give yourself and your colleagues the chance to achieve that.
“Employers know the SIA campaign is working, and that staff want the basic rights they need to achieve badly needed improvements to pay and conditions. They know an SIA empowers their staff, and they don’t want that.”
