Maternity leave dispute goes to the IRC

Federation is seeking significant improvements to maternity and parental leave. DENISE FAIRSERVICE reports.

The union has been seeking for Federation members the considerable improvements in maternity and parental leave entitlements won by some public sector employees as part of their 2004 salaries settlement.

Those improvements won by other public service workers include 14 weeks paid maternity leave as well as one week's paid parental leave (for either parent) as long as service requirements were met. Nurses in public hospitals and police have also achieved these improvements.

Federation asked the Department of Education and Training (DET) as well as the Department of Corrective Services in December 2004 and February 2005 to pass these improvements on to Federation members.

Having made no progress on these discussions, the union wrote to DET's Director-General on June 8 asking him to vary the 1983 Determination on maternity leave and the TAFE Maternity Leave Policy to include the public sector improvements. By Annual Conference, Federation had not received a reply. Similar correspondence was also sent to the Department of Corrective Services.

Just prior to Annual Conference, Federation notified a dispute in the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) with DET and the Department of Corrective Services. This matter was listed as a compulsory conference on July 6. It became clear that both DET and the Department of Corrective Services intend the improvements in maternity leave to be a bargaining chip in the next salaries round and wish to discuss those improvements in that context.

It is Federation's view that teachers' salaries are at the end of the current public sector salaries round and not the beginning of the next round. Federation has argued that young women teachers will not be attracted to the service and are unlikely to remain in it if their maternity leave entitlements are inferior to those in other areas of the public sector.

The matter is back before the IRC on August 15.

Denise Fairservice is an Industrial Officer.

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August 2005 contents