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Intervention slows final submissions in TAFE PTC pro rata case
Evidence in the TAFE pro rata case for part time casual teachers, before the Industrial Relations Commission, is almost completed. Diane Hague reports.
Final submissions were heard by full bench of the Industrial Relations Commission on May 17, 20 and 21.
Unfortunately, the hearing of the Government's attempt to reopen the salaries case (which was successful) swallowed up some of the time set aside to hear the final submissions, so another day, later this year, will have to be programmed.
Senior Counsel Steven Crawshaw, with Counsel Adam Hatcher, made the submissions for the Federation, and Counsel Stan Benson made submissions for the Department of Education and Training and the TAFE Commission.
Federation's case was based on the following contentions:
- The employment of a large proportion of part time casual TAFE teachers is not genuinely casual in nature, but is more analogous to full time or part time employment. This arises from their engagement on a regular basis over a number of years to perform a significant number of hours of work such as to make TAFE their primary or only source of income.
- It is industrially inappropriate that such employees be denied the range of leave entitlements available to full time and part time employees, or that they be regulated as if they were casual employees when in actuality they are not.
- Part time casual teachers, who are predominantly female, perform work which is equal or comparable in value to that performed by full time teachers, who are predominantly male. However, their remuneration and conditions of employment are significantly inferior to those of full time teachers.
- The current remuneration and conditions of employment of part time casual teachers provided for by the Teachers award are not fair and reasonable as required by section 10 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996, nor do they provide equality with the remuneration and conditions of employment of other employees under the Award whose work is of equal or comparable value as required by section 23 of the Act.
Federation's application, if granted, would:
provide for an appropriate form of industrial regulation for part time casual teachers whose employment is analogous to that of full time or part time teachers;
remove the inequality in remuneration and conditions of employment between a part time casual and full time teacher;
provide for fair and reasonable remuneration and conditions of employment for part time casual teachers; and
retain for TAFE the current operational flexibility associated with the use of part time casual employees.
In summary, Federation's evidence definitely showed:
- A significant proportion of part time casual teachers rely upon work with TAFE as their primary or only source of income.
- Many part time casual teachers are not "part time" at all, since they work hours equivalent to that of a full time employee.
- A significant proportion of part time casual teachers are not genuinely casual, in that they have been regularly engaged to perform work in excess of eight hours per week for many years.
- In recent years, part time casual teachers have been delivering as much or more teaching hours for TAFE than full time employees.
Thank you to Federation's witnesses for agreeing to be witnesses in this case but particularly the 16 part time casual teachers, two full time teachers and three head teachers. They were unshaken in the nerve-wracking experience of the cross-examination of their evidence.
Thank you also the TAFE Part Time Casual Special Interest Group whose members rostered themselves on last year so that a group of them were always in the courtroom to support their colleague witnesses. The TAFE part time casual workforce is the last major grouping in public education to have poor salaries and conditions of employment. Let's hope there will be a better deal for them through this case.
Diane Hague is an Industrial Officer.
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