Internal union criticism grows as members demand transparency ahead of government offer
Internal criticism of the leadership of the state’s public school teachers’ union is mounting ahead of a critical meeting on Friday over an ongoing dispute with Allan’s government over pay and conditions.
The Department for Education is expected to submit a revised pay agreement late on Thursday to the Australian Education Union (AEU), which will meet its executive branch council on Friday morning to discuss the new proposal.
But teachers in dozens of schools – Mac with selective entry. It voted to condemn the union’s bargaining approach and its suspension of half-day strikes planned for May and June at the state’s 1,570 public schools – including Robertson Girls’ High School.
Union activists representing five AEU areas – Werribee, Inner City, Broadmeadows, Inner West and Latrobe/Plenty – representing hundreds of schools, also voted against the decision to suspend planned strikes, which was taken without broad consultation with members.
Rebel sub-branches have warned the union that they will not accept a deal that falls far below its claims of a 35 per cent wage increase over three years and a range of improvements in workload and conditions.
Educators at Princes Hill Secondary School were among those rebelling against the union’s leadership; called for the resumption of strikes and demanded greater transparency from the AEU hierarchy.
“The AEU should publish whatever the government proposes before further negotiations progress on this basis,” a statement from the Princes Hill group said.
“Members cannot evaluate what is being bought and sold on their behalf without seeing the terms.”
The union did not respond to a request for comment, but a source close to the organization but not allowed to speak publicly said there are about 40 union territories and more than 1,600 sub-branches in the state. The source said that motions criticizing the leadership were not accepted in some districts and sub-branches.
In March, the union rejected the government’s offer of a 17 percent pay increase for teachers and principals, but only 13 percent for education support (ES) workers.
This offer, along with sweeping changes to working hours and conditions, fell well short of meeting the union’s demand for 35 percent of the entire workforce over three years.
The government’s intention to increase its offer to teachers to 28 percent within four years was leaked to the media.
A union briefing for education support workers on Monday further fueled tensions; Opposition union members said they were told by senior union officials at the online meeting that some key demands for assistants were now “off the table”, leading to claims the AEU was preparing to “sell off” its 35,000-strong ES workforce.
Longtime union activist Lucy Honan, who led the “immediate strike” call that won 37 per cent of the vote in the 2024 union election, acknowledged on Thursday that only a minority of sub-branches and regions had passed motions criticizing the leadership.
But Honan said the union hierarchy should heed the warnings of its more active members who reacted badly to the proposed 28 percent figure.
“Them [the leadership] “We are ignoring the canary in the coal mine,” Honan said.
“You have organized sub-branches and districts that you rely on to keep the momentum of the campaign and recruit, essentially the sharp end of the union telling you they can’t sell this to members.”
Honan urged branch council members on Friday to reject any “shoddy deal”.
Belle Gibson, an education support worker who attended Monday’s online meeting, said leadership told attendees that a proposal for equal pay for teacher aides and another key demand, such as paid lunch breaks, were “off the table” and not expected to be included in the upcoming government proposal.
Gibson, who is part of the Socialists in Schools group preparing to campaign for a vote against the government’s upcoming proposal, told this imprint that ES workers’ own union was now disrespecting their vital role.
“We do important administrative work and work closely with some of the most vulnerable students. It is clear that we are extremely underestimated by the government and our own union,” Gibson said.
The group is calling on its members to emulate state nurses who dramatically rejected the government’s 23 per cent pay deal over four years in 2024. They eventually won a deal worth more than 28 percent.
Education Minister Ben Carroll’s office has been contacted for comment.
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