Thousands sign statements of support as the IEU’s SIA campaign intensifies
Thousands of staff members in Victorian Catholic schools have signed official statements of support for a Single Interest Authorisation (SIA) application after an unprecedented call blitz.
Despite the campaign kicking off in earnest only at the start of October, on the day employers issued a so-called “offer” to staff, attempting to go around the union and the proper bargaining process, thousands of members, union members and non-members alike, have heeded the call.
And it was literally calls playing a major role: IEU staffers, members and supporters from interstate and the wider union movement have rallied behind an extraodrinary effort to reach as many members personally as possible to communicate the importance of securing an SIA.
That urgency was underscored by the employer’s purported “offer”, which would not only entrench wage disparity with others states, but aims to wind back many hard-fought conditions, including cutting non-term week entitlements and leave loading and personal leave and making further limitations on when staff can absent themselves from the school premises when they don’t have classes.
The importance of the SIA
An SIA is essential for fair bargaining, giving staff access to Good Faith Bargaining Orders and the right to protected industrial action – rights all other education workers already have. To succeed at the Fair Work Commission, a majority of staff across all employers must sign a statement of support, so we need non-members as well as members on board.
To meet this challenge, the “all hands on deck” calling campaign, kicked into action alongside member emails, social media posts, Organiser visits and presentations to staff meetings, Rep groups and meber school events.
“There’s no substitute for in-person contact with members,” said General Secretary David Brear. “Reps do it all the time at work with colleagues, and Organisers meet members on school visits. But at a time like this, we needed a huge phone effort to get the message out en masse.”
The union’s message is clear: without an SIA, bargaining is stacked against staff. They will struggle to win the pay rise needed to match interstate colleagues or secure the improvements to workload and safety required during a worsening teacher shortage.
“We need a majority of staff to sign because otherwise we’re left as the only group of educators in the country without recourse to the industrial umpire if negotiations get bogged down – which they always do with these employers,” Brear said.
“All staff need the right to take protected action, not because we want to strike, but because even the threat of minor bans – and the possibility of larger actions – is the most effective way to ensure fair, timely bargaining. Recently, members across different sectors have secured vital improvements only because industrial action was an option. Large-scale strikes weren’t necessary – but the option made employers move.”
