Teacher fight for national rate

TEACHERS in South Australia will demand nationally competitive salaries and a slashing of contract positions.

TEACHERS in South Australia will demand nationally competitive salaries and a slashing of contract positions in upcoming enterprise bargaining negotiations.

As talks on teachers' wage claims stall across the country, Australian Education Union state president Correna Haythorpe said it was unlikely a new agreement could be finalised in SA by the time the current agreement expired at the end of next month.

"It is a very, very unsettled industrial climate around the country at the moment,"she said.

The union is finalising its claim and will meet with SA Industrial Relations Minister Russell Wortley this week.

The previous EBA negotiations lasted two years and resulted in a standoff between the state Labor government and the union that included strikes.

During that period, the union's 21 per cent wage claim was rejected, with the Industrial Relations Commission ultimately awarding a 15.75 per cent increase.

Ms Haythorpe said the union would not accept the government's indicated 2.5 per cent wage offer. "I do realise that Treasurer Jack Snelling has said the salary cap will remain in place and that is something that our members won't be happy to hear," she said.

"We know that 2.5 per cent is not going to ensure the sort of competitive salary that our members are looking for, so we . . . will be putting that to him very strongly."

The highest salary for a teacher in SA is about 30 per cent less than for a teacher in the Northern Territory, and 10 per cent below that of the highest-paid teacher in Western Australia.

Ms Haythorpe indicated the state would be following stalled EBA negotiations in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, where wage claims of up to 30 per cent over three years have been sought. The union also indicated it would seek a radical reduction in contract positions -- about 18 per cent of staff -- within the Education Department.

Education Minister Grace Portolesi said the government had established a new teacher recruitment policy. "This policy supports greater opportunities for graduates and contract teachers to gain stable employment and also provides an option to convert previous contract employees to permanent positions," she said.