Prince Alfred College teachers fighting AWAs

This article is repeated without change from the Eastern Courier (21/11/07) an Adelaide suburban newspaper.

It is a warning to teachers in the public education system that un-Australian Workplace Agreements are infiltrating education, and that what private school teachers face now will be what we face in the future if the Howard regime is re-elected on the 24th of this month.

The article follows:

Workplace Disagreement

By Aaron Coultate

Teachers at one of Adelaide's most elite private schools are at loggerheads with management in a dispute over WorkChoices, which is likely to act as a test case for other independent schools.

Teachers at Prince Alfred College, Hackney, have overwhelmingly rejected a new pay deal in which union members were asked, for the first time, to sign Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). Staff voted 80-20 against the changes which, they said, would ban the Independent Education Union from meeting with members on school grounds, or discussing with them workplace issues.

They have previously accepted the school's offer on pay and conditions.

"The workplace is now in deep dispute over form rather than function," union secretary Glen Seidel (right) said.

"...There is a lot of resentment there."

Mr Seidel said the outcome could be a landmark ruling for SA independent schools, most of which were set to begin AWA negotiations in coming weeks.

"It will probably set the precedent for the rest of the state's non-Catholic private schools. PAC is the vanguard, everyone else is looking at them."

He said it was unlikely teachers would strike. "The most that may happen is some teachers boycott a Saturday morning game of school cricket.

"These are not your usual militant union members."

The teachers have gone back to management with a proposed "memorandum of understanding", which would bypass WorkChoices while maintaining the agreed working and pay conditions.

Mr Seidel said the need for the teachers to take this action made a "mockery" of the laws.

It is unclear whether the school will accept the teachers' position.

Contacted on Friday, PAC Headmaster Kevin Tutt refused to comment.

The issue could take a different tack if the ALP is elected on November 24, with leader Kevin Rudd promising to overhual industrial relations laws.

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The situation at PAC (a Uniting Church elite college) mirrors that at Sydney Church of England Co-Ed Grammar School (SCESGS) which is also using the WorkChoices legislation to deny teachers basic industrial rights by refusing to negotiate with the IEU.

Staff at SCECGS have been offered a new enterprise agreement that varies the template agreement negotiated between the IEU and the Association of Independent Schools, to the disadvantage of staff.

"SCECGS senior personnel told staff that 'theoretically' the school could dismiss all the teachers if they voted 'no' to the agreement and hold a second vote of the new staff in order to get the agreement passed," said IEU General Secretary Dick Shearman.

"The School Principal and Board have ignored a petition by over 100 staff members...The school has flatly refused to negotiate...(and) is using WorkChoices to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation," he said.

10 reasons why women’s votes count at the next Federal Election.

1. Amber: sacked and offered her job back on an AWA that cut her pay by $40 a shift.

2. Jane: sacked after four and a half years when she questioned whether she was being paid correctly. The employer then called her to dismiss her, saying that he couldn’t possibly work with Jane any more because she had questioned him.

3. Ana: an administrative worker for a small company. Two months before her long service leave was due she was sacked. The reason given for her dismissal was that her employer’s relative was coming into the business.

4. Valerie, 54, full time manager at a small transport company. She had worked there for over two years and had never been paid any superannuation. Valerie raised the issue of the non payment of superannuation with her employer before she went on annual leave. While on leave she was not paid. When she contacted her employer about payment for the annual leave he was abusive and dismissed her over the phone.

5. Helen, receptionist, had a miscarriage and had to attend several follow-up medical appointments. The employers made it difficult for her, and were not happy that she had to leave work for these appointments. One day Helen was upset and teary at work and notified her supervisor that she needed to take a break. She was gone for an hour. She was then accused of abandoning her position and dismissed for this reason.

6. Suzy, 35, worked between 10 am to 4 pm, which suited her child care arrangements. Suzy’s employer asked her to extend her hours to 5 pm. When she said she couldn’t because of the high cost of after school care, Suzy was told she had to do the extended hours or leave. She refused and was dismissed.

7. Larissa, sacked after refusing to sign an AWA that included a $200 fine for workers who take sick leave without giving 12 hours notice.

8. Single mother Amie was sacked from her job of five years on the day she stayed home to care for her sick daughter. Her five-year-old daughter had spent the night vomiting. The next morning, Amie telephoned the Adelaide real estate office where she worked and told the office manager she needed to take Natasha to the doctor. In the afternoon, the office manager arrived at Amie’s house and handed her a letter of dismissal. “When I was sacked, I was most worried about paying the mortgage — I didn’t want to lose my house and I didn’t know how I would pay the bills. I feel disgusted. You can’t play with people’s lives like that.”

9. Joan, 58, had worked as a cook for nearly ten years, early morning to lunchtime Wednesday to Sunday. Joan’s employer handed her an AWA individual contract to look at overnight and told her if she refused to sign it she could look for another job. The AWA provided no sick or annual leave, no public holiday penalties, and she would have to be available on call seven days a week until 10 pm.

10. Gender pay equity is slipping beyond the reach of working women. Since the introduction of the Howard Government Work choices legislation, women in full time jobs now earn around $100 less than men (2007 ABS data). For those in part time or casual employment, the gender pay gap for hourly rates is as high as 20%
This is not the only area where women are particularly at risk of being affected by Workchoices. Others include: loss of unfair dismissal rights; reduced working conditions and entitlements such as paid leave; conversion of part time work to casual employment with no leave or flexible work options attached.

AWAs are not about negotiating better conditions for employees, they are being used as a means to reducing working conditions and to prevent unions from representing employees. Statistics from the Office of Employment Advocate show that only 25% of AWAS have included family friendly provisions. This has had a significant impact on employees with family responsibilities as there are no guaranteed entitlements to penalty rates or shift pay under the “fairness” test.

These stories are real. Names have been changed to maintain confidentiality for people who are speaking out about what has happened to them under the Howard Government IR legislation. The stories are not isolated and are happening to women all around you, your friends, your neighbours, your students, your families. Make your vote count for women in the next Federal Election.

Anecdote source: http://www.actu.asn.au/