State Council report: 30 July 2022
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 6, 12 August 2022, page no. 4
State Council met in Brisbane at the Hilton hotel on Saturday 30 July.
EB10
Council received a detailed report on the EB10 negotiations and the process of balloting members, with the recommendation from Executive to accept the offer that was made by the government. Council received a report that outlined the ballot results – more than 20,000 members participated in the ballot, and 84 per cent voted to accept the offer. This was considered by Council with a lengthy period of committee time provided to enable delegates to express their views about the offer.
Council voted to formally accept the EB10 offer in settlement of negotiations, and work will now begin on finalising the draft of the agreement, conducting an employer ballot and getting the agreement certified to enable back payment of salary increases to 1 July 2022.
Further reports on the drafting of the agreement and the employer ballot will be provided in coming weeks.
COVID-19
Council carried a series of resolutions calling on the department to ensure schools remain safe in the face of the ongoing concerns about increased community infection rates since the emergence of the BA3 and BA4 strains of the Omicron variant. This includes continuing to provide appropriate PPE, such as masks, and RATs, continuing additional cleaning of high touch-point areas, reviewing the current risk register and controls, and providing clear advice to schools about their operations in managing high levels of staff absenteeism.
Membership growth
The QTU has just implemented a new membership system and we will be offering new and existing members the capacity to pay their dues by fortnightly direct debit by the end of this year. The Union will be working on how this will be communicated to members and potential members. Council also received a report from the 2022 New Education Network (NEN) about how it is engaging with other new entrants to the profession, providing collegial support, and growing the QTU.
RAP
The QTU Reconciliation Action Plan is being updated and the new version will be launched at the QTU’s First Nations Conference being held in Beenleigh in the first week of the September holidays. The conference is open to all members on the first day and members who identify as a First Nations member for the second day.
Teacher shortage
The significant attraction initiatives for rural and remote centres embedded in the EB10 offer were highlighted and the work that members are doing across the state to address the teacher shortage. This includes the introduction of the Rapid Response Program and ongoing concerns about the large number of permission to teach (PPT) certifications being provided by the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT), allowing larger numbers of pre-service teachers to enter the classroom to fill vacancies than the average. This issue will continue to be negotiated with the QCT and the department to ensure that initial teacher education graduates are properly supported and do not have their careers cut short by being placed into the classroom too early in their period of study.
TAFE
Council received reports on the process for TAFE members to work on the development of their next EB claim. This work will continue across the remainder of the year with members participating in consultation meetings across the state. CQU negotiations continue, with an interim payment of 3 per cent administrative payment to VET educators.
The next meeting of State Council will be held in Brisbane on Saturday 5 November.