TAFE makes great happen... and teachers are the heart of great
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 7, 30 September 2022, page no. 17
QTU TAFE Division members are engaging in the process of developing the QTU’s log of claims for the next round of enterprise bargaining.
The log of claims will inform the QTU position when formal bargaining for a replacement certified agreement commences in April 2023.
At its August meeting, TAFE Council delegates began mapping Union members’ interests on behalf of their local teams and branches. TAFE Council also endorsed an enterprise bargaining consultation process, which includes a listening tour and an online survey.
We frame our listening tour meetings by asking members to list what changes are needed in the workplace for you, for your team, or for your branch. At the time of writing, the QTU listening tour has visited TAFE members in East Coast, Gold Coast and Darling Downs - South West. It will also visit Brisbane, Far North, and North Queensland.
The passion of TAFE educators is heard time and again, across diverse courses and throughout every region. Our listening tour is hearing stories of TAFE teachers who are changing lives, and we are left with no doubt that great does happen in TAFE, and that it is because teachers are the heart of great.
The QTU listening tour is hearing that workload pressures are a significant barrier to the sustainability of making great happen. TAFE educators are being assigned additional and increasingly complex duties. This is eroding working conditions and adversely impacting on work-life balance.
TAFE educators were experiencing workload pressures before the global pandemic, but the past two and half years have accelerated the problem. QTU members have raised the issue of work intensification caused by blended modes of learning, which results in them having to teach face-to-face and online simultaneously.
Class sizes for virtual learning environments are also contributing to workload pressures. Online security and teachers’ personal security need to be addressed as a priority.
QTU TAFE Division members who are not able to meet with QTU officers can still contribute to the development of our log of claims. In October, an online survey will be conducted, open to financial members of the QTU TAFE Division, and QTU Workplace Representatives can email ideas to improve working conditions for teams or branches to: qtu_tafe_eb@qtu.asn.au
Feedback from the listening tour, results from the online survey, and emails received from QTU workplace representatives will all inform the development of the QTU log of claims. A draft will then be provided to QTU TAFE Council for consideration at its meeting in November.