Editorial: What does 135 years of achievement look like? It looks like the QTU!
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 1, 16 February, page no. 5
The QTU was formed when seven teachers’ associations gathered for a conference at the School of Arts, Brisbane in January 1889.
In its first 30 years of existence, the QTU launched a legal defence fund for teachers, campaigned for and secured a Queensland public service superannuation scheme, was granted industrial registration and secured Union preference.
In the next 70 years, the QTU would open its first building, apply for equal pay for male and female teachers (this was finally achieved 20 years after it became Union policy in 1947 and 19 years after the first application for equal pay was rejected), gained class size reductions to 36 (1974), 32 (1977), and 30 (1980), campaigned for and secured teacher housing in remote and country areas, gained improved locality allowances, and secured the Remote Area Incentives Scheme.
In its 104th year, the QTU launched its TAFE Division, making it the union for all public educators in Queensland. Over the past thirty years, we have achieved the establishment of the TAFE consultative committee, campaigned on workload and programming, secured new classifications (such as leading vocational teacher, education team leader, senior teacher and senior tutor) and programming guidelines, protected non-attendance time and improved permanency.
Taking this journey through the Union’s history, what has struck me is the consistency of the campaigns across the years. These include successful salary campaigns, which have not only achieved headline increases, but also salary restructures recognising the complexity of classroom teaching and school leadership. This has included the implementation of the Promotional Positions Classification Review, the introduction of EST, and the highly accomplished and lead teacher professional salary classifications .
Since the introduction of rural and remote incentives in 1991, the QTU has successfully campaigned for improvements. Industrial action in 1996 resulted in the Remote Area Incentive Scheme (RAIS) budget being quadrupled, while a pilot program for revised incentives was conducted in 2016 and 2018. The new Recognition of Remote and Regional Service (RoRRS) scheme was introduced in the 2019 certified agreement, with the current agreement delivering enhanced incentives for beginning teachers, attraction incentives for rural and remote schools, and for the first time the possibility of attraction and retention incentives in transfer rating 2 and 3 schools.
Likewise, the campaign for teacher housing has continued, with industrial action in remote centres leading to a $20 million boost to the accommodation maintenance budget in 2008 and the roll out of teacher housing upgrades between 2018 and 2021.
Both of these campaigns have been essential in teacher shortage campaigns. The legacy of these past campaigns has been the protection of our profession with the establishment of the compulsory teacher registration in 1975. The current teacher shortage campaign has resulted in the introduction of the rapid response teams, however these band aid solutions must be replaced by sustainable ones.
Workload has long been a core element of campaigns, including the achievement of reduced class sizes to 28 in years 4-10 in 2003, non-contact time for secondary schools in the 1980s, non-contact time for primary and special school teachers in 1995, and additional release time for primary specialist teachers in 1998. We have secured joint statements addressing data collection, planning, lesson observations, the workload associated with school reviews, and NAPLAN, as well as the delay to the implementation of the Australian Curriculum (including the delay to the implementation of V9 last year), additional resourcing to support senior subjects affected by the half cohort of prep entering senior schooling, and the introduction of the new senior assessment and tertiary entrance (SATE) system, workload reduction strategies in response to COVID-19, additional non-contact time for primary teachers (2022), workload management clauses (2019), student free day hours reduced for 15 to 10 hours (2019) and additional non-contact time for beginning teachers.
The QTU has also actively participated in campaigns with the federal Union, including the NAPLAN campaign and the school funding campaign in all its iterations. This year the QTU continues to campaign for a fair National School Reform Agreement, as well as an improved, revised school resourcing model and additional funding in the state budget to address students’ complex needs. The Union has also invested in the needs of members through the introduction of QTAD, QTEC and QuEST.
It is difficult to summarise 135 years of achievement without reflecting on how we build on the legacy of the past. The protection of the profession, safe and healthy workplaces, attraction and retention, workload and the teacher shortage continue to be themes that we must address. One of the core themes of the Union this year and into the future is holding our employer to account – industrially, professionally, and legally.
Our priorities build on the past to ensure our members working conditions are protected now and in the future, knowing that the success of the Union stems from its origins – when teacher associations, recognising that there is strength in unity and solidarity, first came together to wield the power that exists in a Union.