Industrial action is not the only way to fight
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 4, 7 June 2024, page 5.
A lot has been said lately about the QTU Executive’s decision to comply with the orders of the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC) regarding the work bans.
We know that members were frustrated that the QIRC determined that the work bans were unlawful. We know that members were eagerly awaiting the Executive’s decision on whether to comply or not comply. We know that members expressed their frustration at the Union when, for a myriad of reasons (including a decision to act within the Union’s values of being professional and courageous, i.e. making a decision that would not be popular but was necessary to protect members and the Union), it was determined that the QTU should follow the Commission’s orders. From that anger, though, we need to build momentum for more people to take action.
It seems that there are those among us that believe that the only way for a Union to fight is to take industrial action, whether that is by following work bans or striking. Members are showing that this is plainly incorrect. Taking action and fighting for safe workplaces does not necessarily mean taking industrial action.
Right now, there are many schools and members taking action against occupational violence and aggression. They are withdrawing instruction from students and calling on the department to stand up and provide the resourcing and support necessary for all students and all workers in schools to be safe. They are telling their stories at the Occupational Violence and Aggression (OVA) round table and to colleagues at schools, branches, and area councils, explaining what steps they took in dispute resolution to bring about change and force the department to do better. Should we need to do this one school at a time? No – and in fact, we are not.
For some time, the Union has been calling on the department to see schools as workplaces. At the most recent OVA roundtable, I believe we saw this start to happen.
One of the outcomes was the development of safe systems of work. In recent polling on behaviour management conducted for the QTU, the community was clear – most of them supported the right for schools to exclude students, to issue SDAs, if students were being violent. This is why it was so important for members to act against the proposed amendments to the EGPA. By raising their voices through submissions to the Parliamentary Committee, delegations to MPs and the Minister, and discussing the potential impacts in their communities, our members were successful in having the amendments that we believed would place people at risk of harm removed.
Similarly, the schools who have used the dispute resolution procedure to call attention to the teacher shortage crisis continue to explore and work toward attracting but also retaining teachers within their workplaces. Much media focus has been on attraction; however, we cannot continue to ignore those who have been working in schools that are persistently understaffed.
Members have met with the department and continue to attempt to find solutions that recognise their work while also developing initiatives to attract people to their schools. This includes reviewing what work is necessary and what work is not – we need to stop doing the “extra” when we can’t fully staff our schools.
Additionally, the initiative around accommodation in some critically understaffed TR2 and TR3 schools has started to bring some reward, as have other initiatives. The government must hear the rallying cries of members in Sarina and Rockhampton that retention payments and different systems of work are necessary to keep teachers in these workplaces.
Industrial action is only one part of a continued strategy to achieve tangible outcomes for members. That is why we have called on members to assert their industrial rights. By acquainting themselves with their working conditions, their professional discretion, and their right to disconnect, members can start to reclaim some professional autonomy. By saying “no” to additional workload and by “holding the employer to account” through dispute resolution, the department will be forced to explain itself to members and the community,
The Valuing Our Profession campaign continues.
We witnessed the power of raising our voices in various ways in response to the EGPA amendments, we need to keep going.