Teachers baulk at Catholic Education Tasmania’s plan for school year extension, forced relocations

Catholic school teachers across Tasmania are unnerved by their employer’s proposal to extend the school year and give itself the right to forcibly relocate teachers, the Independent Education Union says.

Independent Education Union representatives with new campaign banners, calling for a new staff agreement. They are unhappy with what they say are delays on the part of Catholic Education Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

Catholic Education Tasmania is proposing to extend the school year and give itself the power to forcibly relocate staff, the union representing the teaching workforce says, as negotiations over a new employment agreement threaten to reach boiling point.

According to the Independent Education Union (IEU), the previous Tasmanian Catholic Education Agreement expired two years ago and the IEU has been attempting to negotiate a new deal since February 2022.

It comes after the Rockliff government finalised a wage agreement with state school teachers in May, providing a 9.5 per cent pay increase over three years and a $1000 cost of living payment.

IEU Victoria Tasmania general secretary David Brear said it was unacceptable that negotiations between the union and Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) had dragged on for almost two years.

Independent Education Union representatives are unhappy with what they say are delays on the part of Catholic Education Tasmania to negotiate a new employment agreement. Picture, L-R, Ronita Barratt, Sacred Heart Geeveston; Sophie Bird, St Aloysius, Huntingfield; Nikita Williams, Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Lenah Valley; Dorothy Lincoln, Mount Carmel College, Sandy Bay; Jolene Fry, St Brigid's, New Norfolk. Picture: Supplied

“The last thing we want is to end another year without an agreement covering staff in Catholic schools. It should also be the last thing Catholic Education Tasmania wants unless they are determined to keep losing hardworking staff to other schools,” he said.

“We’re ready to get this done now. We urgently need to lock in vital improvements to ensure that hardworking staff have the time, support, and respect they need to give the best education to our students.

“Two years to get this agreement finished is far too long, and IEU members all around Tasmania have had enough.”

CET has characterised the discussions with the union as “positive”.

As part of the negotiations, Mr Brear said CET had been pursuing claims including an extension to the school year and the right to force staff to move between schools.

It’s understood CET has proposed to increase the school year from 195 days of attendance to 199 days as a means of further spreading the teaching load, which would likely require an earlier return to school at the beginning of the year.

Catholic Education Tasmania executive director Gerard Gaskin. Picture: File

But the IEU says this is not the answer to workload pressures and wants CET to improve workplace conditions to help the state’s 38 Catholic schools and colleges attract and retain quality staff.

Twenty union representatives met in Hobart on Monday to discuss the ongoing negotiations and the prospect of ramping up their campaign.

CET executive director Dr Gerard Gaskin said CET and the union had been “re-engaged in discussions across a significant number of bargaining claims” since May.

“Bargaining discussions remain ongoing [and] progress has been positive with a number of claims achieving in principle agreement,” he said in a statement.