Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff urges union to back teacher pay deal

The Education Minister has urged the teachers’ union to back a wage deal it negotiated with the Government but now wants dropped after raising the ire of relief teachers.

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

PUBLIC school teachers have been urged to tell their union to stick to the pay deal it negotiated with the Government in a lengthy letter from Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff.

Australian Education Union branch council members will meet on Friday to vote on a wage agreement that would deliver some teachers pay rises equivalent to 8.5 per cent over three years but significantly reduce the hourly pay of relief teachers.

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After initially endorsing the deal, which was supported by 70 per cent of school staff who voted on it, union president Helen Richardson on Monday wrote to branch council members urging them to reject the proposed agreement because it dudded relief teachers. She blamed the Government for putting the relief teacher loading reduction on the table.

Mr Rockliff’s letter disputed this. As well as warning teaching staff they would miss out on a suite of conditions if the AEU rejects the deal, Mr Rockliff wrote that the union put forward the relief rate change in a counter offer presented to the Government on May 6.

“During negotiations, the AEU and the Government acknowledged that relief teachers in Tasmania are currently the highest paid in Australia at $488 per day for teachers at Band 1, Level 13,” Mr Rockliff’s letter said.

“The new proposed relief hourly rate is still higher than a number of other states and territories.”

Schools that struggled to attract relief teachers would be able to pay their staff more, he said. His two-page letter ended up with a plea for union members to send a message to their leaders.

“The AEU has previously publicly announced that the current offer provides more class planning and preparation time, improved support for new educators and principals and recognition of our teachers with a nationally competitive wage,” the letter said.

“I encourage you to work with the AEU over the coming days to ensure that the significant benefits that the AEU has successfully negotiated with the Government, and that members have supported, can be delivered.”

The AEU leadership faces two no-confidence motions from staff at Hobart and Elizabeth colleges.

AEU LEADERSHIP ON NOTICE AFTER NO-CONFIDENCE MOTIONS