TAFE response inadequate
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 128 , 21 July 2023, page no.17
QTU member engagement
The QTU’s TAFE EB11 timeline has been detailed before and it remains on our website at www.qtu.asn.au/tafe-eb11 In short, the QTU formally commenced preparing our EB11 log of claims at the August 2022 meeting of our TAFE Council. Following this, officers of the QTU engaged with members on a six-month listening tour when we met with members and branches throughout the state. Members’ contributions from these meetings, as well as direct contact with the QTU, informed our online survey that was conducted in February. A final version of our log of claims was endorsed by TAFE Council at its meeting in March.
Our QTU member engagement timeline is important because QTU advocacy in the single bargaining unit is underpinned by having heard our members who teach diverse courses throughout the state. The QTU also recognises our obligations as an employee organisation that is registered with the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC).
QTU member online ballots
QTU TAFE Division members have been receiving regular EB11 Bulletins, and in the weeks leading to the end of the peace obligation period, members were encouraged to visit https://www.qtu.asn.au/membership to update or renew membership details. This is an important step because our QTU membership records determine eligibility to vote in our online ballots.
In accordance with approved QIRC processes, QTU members could be called upon to vote in a protected industrial action ballot. This ballot can occur after the peace obligation period, which ended on 30 June, and lead to industrial action like stop work meetings, overtime bans, work-to-rule, or other approved industrial action. Any such ballot will only occur with the unanimous endorsement of our QTU TAFE Executive, and on that basis, members are strongly encouraged to support any protected industrial action ballot.
Another ballot that QTU members will be called upon to take part in will be on an offer from the employer. At the time of writing, two days after the QTU Biennial Conference, TAFE has provided a response to the QTU log of claims. The response was unacceptable and TAFE Division members who were elected to Conference called on senior officers to communicate the QTU position to the Queensland Government. Conference also carried a motion of condemnation because TAFE Queensland had failed to provide an offer to the QTU prior to the end of our conference.
TAFE’s inadequate response to the QTU
Like TAFE’s response, their formal offer, dated 28 June, did not satisfactorily address the QTU log of claims. TAFE’s offer:
- failed to adequately address measures to reduce cost of living pressures across the life of a replacement agreement
- failed to adequately address workload pressures, which had been identified as a priority in a replacement agreement
- failed to adequately address conditions for online, virtual, hybrid, blended and face-to-face delivery
- failed to adequately recognise employment security.
Next steps
In accordance with the resolutions of conference, QTU senior officers have written to the Queensland Government to communicate the Union’s significant concerns about the inadequacy of TAFE’s offer, dated 28 June. Failing an improvement, by the time this article is published QTU members will likely have received information about participation in online ballots.
QTU TAFE Division members are urged to ensure membership details are updated and to remain informed with the latest information in our EB11 Bulletins and member-only webpage at www.qtu.asn.au/tafe-eb11