The three TAFE sector enterprise agreements under negotiation with the TAFE Commission of NSW should be settled expeditiously.
Since October 2023, 11 meetings have been held to discuss a replacement TAFE Teachers and Related Employees enterprise agreement, and four meetings each regarding the next TAFE Managers and Teachers in TAFE Children’s Centres enterprise agreements.
TAFE NSW has long delayed negotiations and imposed unreasonable expectations to sacrifice working conditions for salary increases, conditions which did not exceed the NSW Public Sector Wages Policy. The present delays, even with backpay until the first pay period after 1 February 2024, are affecting Federation members.
Pending further correspondence and reaching an in-principle agreement with TAFE NSW, Federation’s position is that the enterprise agreements include:
- a 4 per cent salary increase based on salaries in the 2023 agreement backdated to 1 February 2024, and a 1 per cent interim increase between 1 July 2023 and the nominal expiry date of the current agreements
- a duration of 12 months, nominal expiry date of:
- 31 December 2024 for the TAFE Commission of NSW TAFE Managers Enterprise Agreement
- 31 January 2025 for the TAFE Commission of NSW Teachers and Related Employees Enterprise Agreement and the TAFE Commission of NSW Teachers in Children’s Centres Enterprise Agreement.
Gains made in TAFE job security in the 2023 Teachers and Related Employees Enterprise Agreement will also be extended to the proposed agreement. Discussions on numerous matters would continue and formal bargaining for 2025 enterprise agreements would recommence in mid-2024, in the context of a rejuvenated, secure and empowered TAFE workforce.
ACTIONS
- Pursue a negotiated statewide, whole-of-TAFE system staffing agreement and measures to address the unmanageable workloads of TAFE teachers
- Pursue improvements to the working conditions and salary rates of part-time casual teachers, and formalising processes for transition to more secure employment
- Prepare TAFE members to take appropriate action when needed to achieve the stated objectives