South West teachers threaten lighter loads if pay negotiations fail

South West teachers have warned they will lighten their own loads if the State Government doesn’t come to the table for pay negotiations. While the retirement of the public sector wage cap, announced in the State’s mid-year budget review, was welcomed the move fell short of calls for “liveable increases” sought by teaching unions across WA. Since 2017 pay increases for public sector employees, such as teachers, has been limited to $1000 a year and after years of lobbying the State Government has replaced it with a 2.5 per cent wage rise for the next two years — as well as the choice between a $1000 sign-on bonus or an additional 0.25 per cent increase in exchange for “negotiated productivity improvements”. While the increase fell short of the 4 per cent being pushed by unions across the State it was applauded by the State School Teachers’ Union of WA. However, South West branch representative of the SSTUWA Geoff Holt said should negotiations fail to reach the 4 per cent asking price by the time school begins on January 31, teachers would begin to take a step back from after-hours activities. “We do welcome a return to percentage-based pay rises, which is a fundamental base of any bargain agreement,” Mr Holt said. “But we are mindful that won’t even keep pace with inflation, we’ve been going backwards for four years and seen the consequences of that with teachers leaving the profession to gain better wages with shorter hours and students choosing not to enter the field at all. “If we don’t get the agreement that we want then there will likely be a ban on performance management and our members attending meetings before and after school, potentially dropping our engagement in other activities outside of instructional hours. “It’s not sustainable to expect teachers to work these hours, under stressful conditions, with a lack of pay increases in line with inflation and cost-of-living growth.” This month the SSTUWA enterprise agreement for teaching staff expires, meaning unions and the Department of Education will step up to the table to begin negotiations. Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan said the ability to move away from the fixed pay increase method was due to the State’s strong economic and financial position seen post-COVID. “Our finances remain the strongest in the country, with operating surpluses in each year of the forward estimates and the lowest debt trajectory of all jurisdictions,” he said. “The mid‑year review uses our financial capacity to make further investments as we prepare to transition border restrictions when we reach our 90 per cent vaccination rate in early 2022. “These investments ensure that we are in the best possible position to have a soft landing as we begin living with COVID-19 in the community, to reconnect successfully with the world, and to continue to diversify and strengthen our economy.”