Negotiations over a new enterprise agreement are at a stalemate. The federation is calling for a pay rise of 5 per cent a year with an extra 2.5 per cent to recognise extra experience,as well as two more hours of planning time a week.
However,the Department of Education is curtailed by the government’s public sector wage cap,introduced amid strikes in 2011,which limits increases to 2.5 per cent a year. The policy only allows the cap to be exceeded if productivity gains are negotiated.
The department’s education secretary Georgina Harrisson said it welcomed the decision from the IRC,and encouraged the federation to follow it. The department can seek to have the federation fined if it contravenes the order. “Our kids have probably had enough disruption and we’d like to keep them in school for every day we can,” she said.
“The majority of students have had 70 days out of the classroom already,the last thing they need is the disruption of term any further.”
Ms Harrisson said the government’s wage policy applied to all frontline services that have worked tirelessly during the pandemic,ranging from teachers to health workers and police.
When asked about the claim for less face-to-face time,Ms Harrisson said the department was working on ways to reduce teachers’ administrative burden. “The last thing parents and students want to see is their teachers less,” she said.