Support for fair bargaining hits 12,500 as 215 workplaces clear 50 per cent!
Petitions of Support are continuing to pour in from schools and workplaces across Victoria, with 12,500 now counted at the end of the fourth week of the campaign.
At MACS alone, more than 9,200 Petitions of Support have been counted: that means we have already surpassed the total number of supporters we secured across MACS schools in last year’s SOS campaign – and we’ve done it in a shorter period of time!
It’s a remarkable achievement, and a testament to the work of Reps, members and supporters across Melbourne. But last year also taught us an important lesson: our employers are prepared to fight tooth and nail over our numbers. They challenged our evidence and contested who should count at every opportunity.
So this time, we’re not aiming merely to scrape over the line.
We need to keep building until the level of support is so strong – and the margin so clear – that it leaves no room for dispute.
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.
Last week, we celebrated 181 workplaces where a majority of staff had signed. That number has now grown to 215!
Across the four diocesan systems, 211 workplaces have now passed 50 per cent support:
165 at MACS
20 at DOSCEL (Sale)
14 at CESL (Sandhurst)
12 at DOBCEL (Ballarat)
And the bar for making our statewide leaderboard keeps getting higher. Last week, every school in our Top 50 had passed 70 per cent support - this week, a workplace needs 78% support just to make the list!
Our updated Top 50 diocesan workplaces
St Peter’s School – Keilor East (MACS)
Our Lady of the Rosary School – Kyneton (MACS)
St Anne’s School – Kew East (MACS)
St Oliver Plunkett’s School – Pascoe Vale (MACS)
St Joseph’s College – Ferntree Gully (MACS)
St Richard’s School – Kilsyth (MACS)
Sacred Heart School – Morwell (DOSCEL)
St Mary’s School – Alexandra (MACS)
St Monica’s School – Footscray (MACS)
Queen of Peace School – Altona Meadows (MACS)
St John’s School – Heidelberg (MACS)
St Therese’s School – Essendon (MACS)
St Philip’s School – Blackburn North (MACS)
St Laurence O’Toole’s School – Leongatha (DOSCEL)
St James’ School – Sebastopol (DOBCEL)
St Clare’s School – Thomastown West (MACS)
St John Bosco’s School – Niddrie (MACS)
Holy Cross Catholic Primary School – Mickleham (MACS)
St Francis of Assisi School – Tarneit (MACS)
St Francis Xavier’s School – Corio (MACS)
St Catherine of Siena School – Armstrong Creek (MACS)
St Paul’s School – Monbulk (MACS)
St Mary MacKillop School – Bannockburn (MACS)
Thomas Carr College – Tarneit (MACS)
St Therese’s School – Cranbourne (DOSCEL)
St James’ School – Brighton (MACS)
St Joseph’s School – Wonthaggi (DOSCEL)
St Thomas the Apostle School – Cranbourne East (DOSCEL)
St Patrick’s School – Port Fairy (DOBCEL)
Padua College – Tyabb (MACS)
St Augustine’s School – Keilor (MACS)
St Mark’s School – Dingley (MACS)
Ave Maria College – Aberfeldie (MACS)
Marian College – Myrtleford (CESL (Sandhurst))
St Joseph’s School – Boronia (MACS)
St Patrick’s School – Kilmore (MACS)
St Joseph’s School – Mernda (MACS)
Lisieux Catholic Primary School – Torquay North (MACS)
St Patrick’s School – Mentone (MACS)
St Margaret’s School – Geelong East (MACS)
Marymede Catholic College – Doreen (MACS)
Catholic Regional College St Albans – St Albans (MACS)
St Joseph’s School – Springvale (MACS)
Our Lady of Lourdes School – Bayswater (MACS)
St Patrick’s School – Ballarat (DOBCEL)
Sacred Heart School – Diamond Creek (MACS)
St Mary’s School – Lancefield (MACS)
St Kevin’s School – Hampton Park (MACS)
St Bernard’s School – Bacchus Marsh (MACS)
St Kevin’s School – Lower Templestowe (MACS)
How is your diocese tracking?
The statewide table tells only part of the story. Across Melbourne, Sale, Ballarat and Sandhurst, Reps and members are building extraordinary levels of local support – including at workplaces that may not appear in the statewide Top 50.
Thats why we’re now publishing separate Top 10 leaderboards for each diocese, so schools can see how they are tracking against their neighbours.
Can you get your school onto next week’s list?
Every conversation matters.
We’ve already surpassed last year’s MACS result, and hundreds of workplaces are demonstrating majority support. But our experience last year showed us that a narrow margin is not enough.
