Victorian Catholic schools survey: pay, workloads, and wellbeing

A survey of IEU members working in Victorian Catholic education confirms that they need their wages addressed, workload remains a primary concern, and that workplace stress is affecting their health.

Over 3000 members filled out our pre-bargaining survey, and were asked to rank eight workplace issues by importance. 83 percent put pay as one of their top three issues, while 74% listed workloads, with 50% nominating health and wellbeing as a ‘top 3’ issue.

These stark numbers reinforce the union’s priorities in the campaign for a new Agreement, and send a clear message to Catholic employers: with the rising cost of living and the increasingly complex and personally demanding nature of education jobs, employees need a substantial pay rise, real cuts to unnecessary tasks, and stronger measures to protect their safety.

IEU General Secretary David Brear says the survey results confirm what union staff had heard directly from members in schools – the prolonged challenge of making ends meet in the cost-of-living crisis had taken a toll, and it was time for staff to get a “significant” raise.

“Two thirds of all staff surveyed in all different types of schools were dissatisfied with their pay, and over half (54 per cent) said the main reason was that the work they perform is more demanding than their pay warrants. These results are simple and stark: our members need to be better rewarded for their valuable work, and their welfare needs to be looked after better.”

There is a huge wealth of data in these survey results, which we will unpack over coming weeks to communicate with members and to inform the development of bargaining priorities.

We are also running several focus groups of teachers, ES staff and school leaders in early May, which will help to shed further light on the priorities of IEU members.

For now, here are three issues that immediately caught our attention:

1.     Members are ready for action

Any employer expecting staff will accept delays in bargaining should heed this startling statistic: 82 per cent of members are prepared to take some form of industrial action if needed to achieve a fair and reasonable outcome to EBA negotiations.

Furthermore, 87 per cent of those surveyed agree that “achieving the best EBA outcomes requires the collective effort of the entire union, not just the negotiators”.

IEU members in Victorian Catholic education are ready to stand up for better workplaces and improved working conditions!

2.     The health and wellbeing crisis

The survey’s results on the safety and wellbeing of staff are downright disturbing. 83% said that their physical or psychological health had been affected by their work in the last year, while one quarter of all members report sustaining a psychological injury in the past 12 months.

At a time of teacher shortages, these numbers reveal why member wellbeing, including proper safeguards from aggressive students and parents, must be taken seriously, immediately.

We are carefully analysing these concerning statistics and will report in detail to members over coming weeks.

3.     Teacher workloads

For teachers, workloads was the issue of highest priority - 82% listed it as as a ‘top 3’ issue, just beating out pay (81%). On workloads, teachers told us:

·         administrative tasks like compliance and data collection were the greatest additional burden on their work (nominated by 90% as a ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ significant burden)

·         78 per cent said reducing administration was a high priority for them

·         88 per cent wanted greater enforcement of current workload limits

·         79 per cent agreed that it is important to protect the workload improvements won in the 2022 Agreement

·         60 per cent said that their health had been affected by excessive workload in the past 12 months

It’s clear that the wording of existing workload provisions need tightening – but it’s also clear that these current provisions are not being correctly followed in many workplaces.  The IEU will not accept anti-worker backsliding that keeps educators from focusing on their primary roles with their students.

What happens next – claim development

There is a huge wealth of data in these survey results, which we will unpack over coming weeks to communicate with members and to inform the development of bargaining priorities. We are also running several focus groups of teachers, ES staff and school leaders in early May, which will help to shed further light on these survey results.

Organisers will be out in schools this term to talk through bargaining priorities, bringing further member feedback to our bargaining team as they develop our draft Log of Claims. Once the draft is finalised, it will be circulated to all sub-branches, who will be able to endorse it or propose amendments to be voted on by IEU Council.

Any proposed amendments from members will then be considered at a special meeting of Victorian Catholic Council, likely to be held during Term 3.

As we continue to analyse the data, we will circulate articles focusing on key aspects of the upcoming negotiations — including pay, workload, and wellbeing — as well as the specific concerns of women, principals, and Education Support staff. You will hear directly from your colleagues about what they need to improve their schools for both employees and, therefore, students.

We need your involvement and input to ensure that this campaign delivers the outcomes needed by IEU members, schools and students!