Members of the Victorian Independent Education Union (IEU) held a protest outside FCJ College Benalla on Monday, November 21.
The group is fighting for fair working conditions in the Catholic education system, asking for the same deal Victorian government schools currently have.
IEU sub branch representative, and teacher, Kathryn De Fazio said the action on Monday was not officially a protest, as current industrial relation laws prohibited that.
The group is calling the action a “walk-in” aimed at raising public awareness of their situation.
“The union has been in negotiations with Catholic Education Commission Victoria to establish a Multi Enterprise Agreement that is now nearly two years overdue,” Ms De Fazio said.
“Recently, the Sale Diocese split from the main body representing Catholic Schools in Victoria and they have finalised an agreement that sees parity with Victorian Government Schools.”
Other Diocese are still negotiating, and while a pay increase has been agreed to, the IEU feels it is not enough.
It is, however, happy to accept the pay rise currently on the table, if conditions improve.
“Remarkably, this agreement sees teacher salary increases by a total of three per cent in three years. That’s one per cent per year,” Ms De Fazio said.
“Accepting this measly pay increase has been on the condition that our employers recognise that the major issue teachers have is unsustainable workload demands.
“Negotiations between the IEU and our Catholic employers have stalled and whilst they can agree to this meagre pay increase, they will not accept parity on conditions that have been logged to reduce workload demands.
“Industry standards have been set with the enactment of the Victorian Government Schools Agreement and the Sale Diocese EA.
“We believe that we are entitled to these same working conditions.
“The future of teaching is unsustainable if changes to our working conditions aren’t made.”
Chief Executive Officer, Catholic Education Sandhurst Limited, Jenni Kennedy said negotiations were ongoing.
“Catholic Education Sandhurst Limited (CES Ltd), along with Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS), Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited, and Catholic Religious Institute and Ministerial Public Juridic Person Victorian Schools Ltd, is currently in negotiations for an enterprise agreement to replace the Victorian Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2018,” Ms Kennedy said.
“CES Ltd respects the decision of FCJ College Staff to take this action this week.
“We are blessed with many fantastic staff members across the Diocese, and we recognise and deeply value their professionalism and dedication.
“We particularly value the enormous contribution they have made in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two and a half years, including pivoting to remote learning, at times with little notice.
“Along with other Catholic education employers, I assure you that CES Ltd is committed to negotiating in good faith in a responsible and transparent process as we work together towards a just agreement with our valued staff.
“We aim to allocate resources in ways that deliver the best outcomes for students and families, while fairly and responsibly rewarding our staff.
“We look forward to the formalisation of agreed outcomes as soon as possible.”