A DEMOCRATIC UNION

Throughout the more than 135-year life of the QTU, its members have freely chosen and committed to maintaining and renewing a democratic structure.

The Union’s democracy has three features: it is representative; it is run by members (working teachers and principals); and participation is voluntary.

A representative democracy

Most of the time, democracy is exercised through the QTU’s representative structures.

Full membership ballots are conducted for:

election of the QTU’s President, Vice-President and Honorary Vice-President (every three years – if required)
statewide industrial action
approval of enterprise bargaining agreements.

Other decisions are made by representative bodies made up of working teachers and principals (“rank-and-file” members) – State Council, Biennial Conference, Executive,
branches and area councils (schools and the Union overall), and TAFE Council and TAFE Executive (TAFE and CQU members).

Union Representatives (Reps)

The Union Rep is the first point of contact with the QTU. They are serving teachers elected by their colleagues to represent the Union in the workplace. They provide advice and support, organise local campaigns, arrange workplace meetings, and recruit new members. We also have Lead Union Reps, who are trained to assist QTU Organisers, and Principal Union Reps, who provide a school leader perspective on education and industrial issues.

Branches and area councils

Whether it’s in schools or TAFE, the fundamental building block of the representative structure is the branch.

Members in schools belong to one of 105 branches, each covering the schools in a geographic area. In major cities, branches have between 200 and 750 members each; in other areas, they range from 60 to 600, allowing for the large area covered by some branches.

Each branch elects a representative to State Council every three years, two representatives to the regional area council every three years on a different term, and a Conference delegate every two years. If more than one nomination is received, the members of the relevant branch or delegates to the respective area council are balloted.

State Council

The State Council, which is the main decision-making body of the Union, meets in Brisbane on four Saturdays a year.

It is made up of six elected Senior Officers, 105 branch representatives, 12 area council representatives, three TAFE Division representatives, two First Nations representatives, and any member of Executive who does not hold a branch or area council representative position. Rank-and-file representatives, the Vice-President, and the Honorary Vice-President can vote, but the President only has a casting vote. The General Secretary and two Deputy General Secretaries do not vote.

Executive

In between State Council meetings, decisions are made by the Executive, which is elected from and by the State Council every three years.

There are 20 members on Executive – six Senior Officers, one First Nations representative, one TAFE representative and 12 other State Council members. On any issue, 16 of the 20 members have a vote, and 15 of those are rank and- file members.

Executive meets fortnightly after work. Videoconferencing enables the Executive to include members from across the
state.

Conference

Every two years, Conference meets for three days in the winter school holidays. It comprises members of State Council, an additional delegate from each branch and
area council, three TAFE Division delegates, and two First Nations delegates.

The Conference decides and adopts revised policy consolidated in policy documents. In between meetings of Conference, that policy (reviewed by committees and Executive and distributed to branches beforehand) can only be changed by a two-thirds vote of Council.

The rank-and-file members of Executive, State Council and Conference make a significant contribution of time to make decisions on the Union’s direction on behalf of all members.

How do you put forward an idea?

Members have two main ways of putting forward ideas to be considered and getting involved in the QTU democracy.

The first way is by attending a meeting of their local QTU branch. The dates for these meetings are on the QTU website.

Any member can attend a branch meeting to discuss ideas and propose a formal motion for the branch to consider supporting. The motion would need to be seconded, after which branch members can vote in favour or against. If carried, the motion is sent to Executive to be actioned or to State Council to be debated.

The second way is by attending a meeting of QTU members at their workplace, organised by the Union Reps, where a motion that impacts on their workplace can be put forward and voted upon by other financial members.

A motion that is supported by the majority of members at a branch or workplace meeting becomes a resolution. These resolutions are then considered by Executive or Council. If they are supported at this level, they then form part of the Union’s position or policy on the matter.

Your Organiser and other branch members can help you write motions that may be considered at meetings – just ask and they will be happy to support you. We have also developed guides to help members in the art of writing motions.

Members can also express individual views by sending them to the QTU via an email or letter. This will be responded to by an officer of the Union, in accordance with existing QTU policies and decisions of Council, Conference or Executive.

The principle is simple – the more members get involved in their Union, the more reflective of members’ views the Union’s policy and positions will be.

Put simply, a resolution from a branch (many schools) goes to Council or Executive, a resolution from a school goes to Executive, and an individual’s view is addressed by an officer.

Participation is voluntary; decisions are binding

Unlike federal, state and local government elections, participation in Union elections is voluntary. Voting is not compulsory, but as far as humanly possible, the Union strives to ensure that everybody has the chance to express a view.

The avenues available to QTU members wishing to put resolutions and issues on the decision-making agenda are far more numerous than in any level of government, but participation is again voluntary.

At the end of the day, decisions are made by those who turn up – and there are many members who do. And as the QTU is a collective organisation, those decisions – in an election, in a ballot, or in a vote – are binding. They are the democratically-decided positions of the QTU, which Union officers and employees are required to implement.

The QTU is proudly democratic. We’re starting from a very high level, but we’re always looking at ways to become more so.