Your right to a collective salary agreement

By Dennis Long

Federation has begun planning for the next salaries claim with an insistence on collective salary agreements and by reaffirming the need for collegiality in the profession.

The union rejects individual contracts, including those based on so-called "performance" or "bonus" pay, regardless of whether such pay rates are based on student results or from an individual teacher's negotiations with the principal or institute manager over salaries and working conditions.

Federation believes that much of the work of teachers is not directly or numerically measurable.

There is evidence that when performance or bonus pay is introduced it has negative effects on student learning outcomes and damages productivity, morale and dedication.

Any system of localised pay and employment structures will lead to a lowering of salaries and conditions.

The Howard Government has stepped up its campaign for individual contracts for teachers with a threat to make federal funding of education contingent on the states introducing performance pay. Federation has called on the state Labor governments to oppose this tactic.

The next salaries claim will be based on a common incremental salary scale and fixed rates of pay for promotions positions.

In developing the next claim, Federation will continue to argue for a more rigorous and objective approach to promotion based on-the-job assessment.

The next salaries claim will also need to consider classroom teachers who do not seek promotion.

Some years ago, Australian teachers unions sought the introduction of additional classifications to reward classroom teachers. The corruption of the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) classification by the Government and Department with quotas and workload requirements meant this classification was abandoned as a result of the Federation's opposition.

Federation will, however, re-examine the issue and explore the means by which appropriately accredited classroom teachers can be rewarded through an award provision.

Dennis Long is the Editor.

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