Winning for Members
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 128, 8 November 2023, page no.10
The Union has been instrumental in achieving a range of wins for members, and sharing our winWs is an important way to showcase the work the Union undertakes on behalf of members, each and every day.
Although your local wins might seem small to you, they are still worth sharing and celebrating. Often, a local win becomes a regional win. And sometimes, the actions of one group of members in a particular workplace can lead to systemic change and a win for all members across the state.
When QTU members act collectively, we win. That is a pretty powerful reason to choose to belong! Here are some recent examples.
Workload: As a result of EB10, the department has committed to a review of the duties associated with all teaching and school leadership roles as part of the forthcoming review of allocative methodology. We cannot address workload and wellbeing if we do not remove the things we do that are additional to our roles.
Student behaviour: Student, parent and community behaviour is often the greatest hazard for QTU members. Consequently, the Union has been lobbying the government and Department of Education (DoE) over the past two years. Actions included: submissions to the review of Education General Provisions Act and the vaping enquiry; provision of the QTU State Budget Submission, consulting members on the issues they face and the responses needed, including support for student disciplinary absences (SDAs); issuing directives when necessary to ensure staff and student safety; and rejecting discipline audits (see the full list at https://www.qtu.asn.au/behaviour-management-timeline).
Additional student support: Any campaign relating to workplace health and safety in schools is highly complex. The QTU and its members balance the need to provide a safe and supportive working and learning environment with promoting and protecting the students we teach. It is also difficult to celebrate the wins at different stages of the campaign – a win for some (e.g. a ban on mobile devices) is viewed differently by others. This is to be expected when we apply a workplace health and safety lens to student support, but this is what we must do – and the work continues.
Facilities and housing: The quality of a house has little to do with age and a lot to do with amenity and fitness-for-purpose. That is why local accommodation committees (LACs) are empowered to make local decisions about housing allocations. The QTU believes that these committees are central to grassroots, local management of housing for teachers and should make decisions locally, including determining suitability for multiple tenants.
Issues relating to the profession: Advocacy from members and pressure from the QTU resulted in the implementation of the Teacher Rapid Response Team/Flying Squad initiative to help address the current teacher shortage in the short term.
Legal matters: The Union established a legal assistance scheme many years ago. Any legal action, whether prosecution or defence, is expensive. The risk of legal action is something teachers and school leaders face on a daily basis. That’s why providing our members with the best possible legal protection and assistance is such a high priority.
Financial matters: Officers of the QTU challenged the department’s position on eligibility for the locality allowance for members in specific remote centres and its insistence on a limit of 12 months' backpay. Members were consequently encouraged to inform their line managers that, as principals, they have the capacity to approve the back pay of locality allowances beyond 12 months.
School resourcing: Genuine investment is needed in the design and resourcing of a socially and financially just model tailored specifically for our diverse contexts. Statewide QTU consultation is underway, engaging a broad range of members across regions, school contexts, sectors, and geographic locations.
The Comprehensive Review of School Resourcing (CRoSR) aims to examine the current resourcing model and processes and make them responsive to change.
We achieve these results, and more, because:
- the QTU is the only truly democratic industrial and professional voice for the profession in state schools and TAFE.
- as a registered union under the Industrial Relations Act 2016, the QTU has a right to represent members in their workplace and directly with their employer and seek outcomes that are not possible without this authority.
- we have the collective strength and power of a Union with more than 48,000 members, so when we work collectively together, we win.
From 2024, the back page of every Journal will showcase a different QTU member win!
You can also check out the new look member wins webpage – and remember to add your own QTU member win!
Leah Mertens
Deputy General Secretary
Beck Humphreys
Campaign Communications Project Officer