Unholy workplace row brewing in state's Catholic schools
A messy workplace dispute is brewing between teachers at Victoria's Catholic schools and their employers, with the educators' union threatening Fair Work action to enable its members to take industrial action.
A militant mood among the state's government school teachers has spread to the 30,000 educators at Victorian Catholic schools, whose wages lag behind their interstate counterparts by up to $10,000 a year.
The vast majority of Catholic teachers surveyed by the union said they were ready to walk off the job for better pay and conditions, raising the prospect of school strikes.
But a sector-wide strike by Catholic teachers is not a current option because the 30,000 educators are employed by 33 separate church-linked entities, ranging in size from the giant Diocese of Melbourne to single-site employers.
Even before wage talks get officially under way, the teachers' union and the Victorian Catholic Education Authority disagree sharply about the framework for negotiations.
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Despite terms and conditions being uniform across the sector, the complex structure means that the Catholic teachers are not regarded under the Fair Work Act as a single workforce and are denied the right to strike.
This is different to the 52,000 teachers in Victoria's government schools, whose pay is broadly on par with their Catholic counterparts and whose union, the Australian Education Union, is warning that members could walk off the job as they pursue a pay claim that might worth up to 14 per cent in the first year.
The Independent Education Union says the Victorian Catholic Education Authority – the Catholic schools' employers umbrella group – could consent to a 'single entity' bargaining process, granting the teachers the same industrial rights as their government school counterparts. But the authority, uniquely among the states and territories, has refused.
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