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Schools members April 2008, How much is your work worth? Job Evaluation systems are widespread in the Public Sector and are used as an objective measure to grade jobs. A good job evaluation system is worth money in the pocket to employees. We know that schools support staff are vastly underpaid compared to similar jobs elsewhere. That was recognised by the independent 2003/04 DET sponsored SASS Review. Why is the Department of Education the only big NSW government department that does not use a recognised job evaluation system? Many Schools based PSA members ask “Is the under valuing of schools work something the Department wants to cover up and prolong by not adopting a recognised system for grading jobs?” 2004 saw the best opportunity for this matter to be rectified. The whole of the Department was under review, SASS, DET and TAFE. TAFE has had a Job Evaluation system (known as Cullen Egan Dell) since the 1990’s. DET does not, nor does Schools. After the 2003/04 DET/TAFE restructure those TAFE employees who were transferred to DET Corporate Services lost their job evaluation system. But a combined effort in 2003/04 involving Schools DET and TAFE could have gained a much better result all round. Why did the PSA leadership refuse to combine the campaigns? The independent DET sponsored SASS Review recommended much more of a salary increase for SASS than the Department was willing to offer and more than the PSA officials were willing to accept. It was said at the time by PSA President Sue Walsh that this deal was only a "part settlement only". But its been 4 years and where is the action on the second instalment? PSA members in schools have a right to be angry with the union leadership. At the Sky Channel broadcast schools PSA members were encouraged by President Sue Walsh, General Secretary John Cahill and Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner to accept a bad deal. Comparisons from the current Public Service Notices Clerical Officer Grade 1/2 is paid $21,154-$43,903. A Clerical Officer 1/2 in TAFE is below the generally accepted entry level for clerical work which is Clerk 1/2 ($46,320-$50,356). Even taking into account the shorter working year for schools employees: How much is your work worth? Read more'here'. Read more about what senior PSA officials promised'here' March 2008, Extra training places to be funded by vouchers In an apparent reversal of a pledge made before the federal election last year the Rudd government has kept a Coalition voucher system for “skills training places” which it pledged would be abolished. According to Sid Marris writing in the Australian, 6 March 2008: “… the funding is on top of existing programs, Labor is looking at using the funding infrastructure of the Howard government's Work Skills Vouchers to pay for the training. The old voucher system, much in demand by business, expires next month.” At the ALP campaign launch last year, Kevin Rudd announced that if Labor won the election there would be 450,000 extra training places over 4 years partly funded by replacing the Coalition’s voucher system. “Although Labor is proposing to boost the number of Coalition-funded places, the increase is to be funded in large part by scrapping the Howard Government's "Work Skill Vouchers" program.” Brad Norrington, Australian, 15 November 2007 What is wrong with a voucher system? This system for funding training needs means that a training “consumer” can shop around for the cheapest, shortest course whether it comes from a TAFE facility or a private provider. Quality is therefore at risk of being downgraded. Further the TAFE Directors Association chief executive Martin Riordan, is reported to have warned that "The price signals in the vouchers took no account of the cost of our infrastructure,". This indicates a continuing attack on government funded education where an open market in training takes no account of the extra human and physical advantages of the TAFE system. Indeed, ultimately, TAFE is punished for being better at supporting students with ‘expensive’ services such counsellors, libraries, student associations, and direct class support in labs and workshops. PSA members who work in these educational support areas should be wary of this encroachment of “market forces” where labour costs must be continually driven down at the expense of quality of education February 2008, Performance Management and Development Scheme Chair of the DET/TAFE State Delegates Committee, Leon Parissi said " Management has given the union assurances that the new Performance Management and Development Scheme will not be used as a disciplinary tool. We welcome the potential for PSA members to have greater opportunity to develop their skills and performance through training. But some members are afraid that wayward managers might misuse the Policy. If this happens to you let your local delegate know." January 2008, Managing Displaced Employees Policy The union is in the process of negotiating a new DET/TAFE policy on managing displaced and excess employees. Your delegates and PSA staff have succeeded in improving management’s drafts over the course of numerous meetings. That work is not yet complete and you will get further information as it comes to hand. September 2007, More threats to TAFE On the eve of an election the federal government has given TAFE employees further cause for concern. Speaking to a recent “TAFE Directors Australia” (TDA) conference the federal Minister for Vocational and Further Education, Andrew Robb, outlined a another plan to foist Australian Workplace Agreements on TAFE. State legislation, in March 2006, foiled the federal government’s previous attempt at imposing AWAs. It should be noted that although AWAs have been on offer to new and existing employees to date none have been taken up. Carrots and sticks Andrew Robb delivered a message on behalf of the Prime Minister saying that, if re-elected, TAFEs would be given greater “autonomy”, like universities. So much for the ‘good’ news - at least as far as the TAFE Directors see things. Martin Riordan, CEO for the TAFE Directors Association welcomed this carrot of more autonomy and the promise of access to more private sector funding. Minister Robb was also spouting the usual Howard government anti-union rhetoric “Many TAFE colleges have been shackled by state government controls, guided by the iron glove of unions.” Presumably the federal government’s Orwellian anti-worker laws will bring freedom from these imagined shackles. Under the proposed regime, should Howard and Robb be returned at the election, it may be that TAFE Institutes become employing authorities each standing alone, like universities. In order to achieve this goal the state government would need to agree to the handover control of TAFE to the federal government. This could be done either through cooperation or coercion as we have seen already in the misnamed “Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act, 2005” where the threat of funding cuts was used to begin imposing the Howard agenda on TAFE. The state government’s protective state legislation passed last year would thus be side stepped. TAFE would then be open to similar restrictions on union activity as now have been imposed on universities. Read more about the 'Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements' (HEWRRs). 'here'. Future of TAFE So far the Iemma government has rejected the Howard/Robb plan. Should Howard be returned the state government may not feel there is an option to caving in under the pressure of financial sanctions. In many respects the coming federal election may decide the fate of TAFE. There is no guarantee that federal Labor will be as TAFE friendly as many hope. Both the previous ALP federal government and the current state ALP government have accepted the 'user pays' and competitive aganda which have helped lead us to the current precarious situation. The Rudd/Gillard Oposition have yet to announce their higher education policy in detail but the current Iemma policy of increasing the trend to fee for service delivery gives many who work in TAFE cause for concern. PSA Central Councillor Leon Parissi commented "The Coalition is still smarting from the failure to use the privately run "Australian Technical Colleges" to undermine TAFE. They are on an ideologically driven mission to destroy our unions. Ultimately its TAFE employees and students who will be the losers. Its clear we need to dump the Coalition." Read more about Andrew Robb's speech to the TDA in the Australian 'here' and in the Sydney Morning Herald 'here'. Read Minister Andrew Robb's speech to the TDA 'here' August 2007, Federal attack on TAFE fails In 2005 we reported that “Federal Government will spend $289 million over four years establishing 24 new Australian Technical Colleges to operate outside state education systems and the union movement.” This undisguised federal government attack on state run TAFEs has now blown out to a cost of $585m with four more colleges being funded. The ATCs are federally funded, privately run colleges aimed at year 11 and 12 students doing apprenticeships. ATC underachievers Four years on we can report that only two ATCs have met their enrolment targets. Even the government’s meagre but unmet target of 2,000 enrolments Australia wide illustrates the real purpose of the ATCs in introducing WorkChoices into the publicly funded VET arena. All employees of ATC must be offered Australian Workplace Agreements. These colleges are designed to be union free. The head of one of the Victorian colleges recently quit amid stories of conflict in the governance structure of the ATC which included the federal and state governments, business and two high schools. Read the story 'here'. “Eastern Melbourne chairman Chris Young, who has taken leave from his construction consultancy to run the college after it went into "emergency management mode", said Mr Hutton resigned abruptly amid reports the college system was expensive and underperforming.” More DET/TAFE jobs to go About 65 DET employees, and an unknown number from TAFE, who are already displaced from previous restructures have been sent letters offering them a voluntary redundancy package. This may be fine for those who want to go but what about those who remain to do the work? Presumably these jobs will count towards the Treasurer’s 5,000 job cuts of which he already has harvested over 3,500 jobs across the Public Service. Once again it shows up the problem of who does the work left behind by those who take up Redundancy packages. The usual union advice is that nobody should do that work. But this is very difficult to enforce in workplaces where we work in teams and one individual’s work is hard to distinguish from the next. We also tend to work in a service capacity where we will be ‘letting down’ the customer if we slam on the brakes exactly at 5.00pm and leave matters unfinished. It will take a large and well organised campaign against job cuts aimed at both sides of Parliament not just angry words if the continual erosion of the public service is to be effectively opposed. Its time the union leadership put real meaning into the “Job Cuts = Service Cuts” campaign and aimed it just as strongly at the current government which is actually cutting jobs now. IPART and more: Full fees for TAFE? There is a strong move from TAFE Directors Association (TDA) and private VET providers for the government to introduce a HECS style loan system for TAFE students. They claim that TAFE and private VET students are disadvantaged compared to university students who are presumably ‘advantaged’ by finishing their studies with huge debts. So what is the real agenda? Under competition policy state and Commonwealth governments subsidise private providers who compete with TAFE for students. Big business has been pursuing an agenda of privatisation, commercialisation and corporatisation of public services and utilities since the 1990s. Read more about what it means for TAFE.   DET/TAFE STATE DELEGATES 2006-08 Elections held May 2006   PSA DET/TAFE Advisory Group EXECUTIVE PARISSI, Leon Chair Leon.Parissi@tafensw.edu.au (02) 9217 3289 HEWITT, Russell, Vice Chair Russell.Hewitt@det.nsw.edu.au (02) 598 6318 DALEY, Judith Secretary Judith.Daley@epac.det.nsw.edu.au (02) 926 68070 McLOUGHLIN-FULLICK, Margaret Assistant Secretary Margaret.Mcloughlin@tafensw.edu.au (02) 4923-7407 Don't look in the TAFE Gazette for TAFE public service jobs All TAFE public service job adverts will only to go in the PS Notices and online at 'Jobs.NSW' http://jobs.nsw.gov.au/Start.asp ; and the newspapers from now on. As of 17 March 2006 support staff are no longer employees of TAFE. We are now public servants. Teaching and Institute Manager jobs will continue to be posted in the TAFE Gazette as will policies etc. See article below for background: "Government moves to protect public sector workers impacts on TAFE". PSA DET/TAFE state delegate elections 2006 Nominations closed 24 March 2006. Only Sydney Institute is holding a postal ballot. There are 10 candidates for 4 Sydney Institute positions on the PSA DET/TAFE Advisory Group. The Progressives are supporting a 'ticket' with Russell Hewitt, Leon Parissi, Maolcholm Bruce and Jane O'Brien. Ballot papers were posted on 3 May and voting closes 19 May. In all other DET & TAFE electorates the candidates were elected unopposed. Delegates finally meet Minister Senior delegates from the DET/TAFE PSA Advisory Group, Russell Hewitt and Leon Parissi met the Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, together with the PSA General Secretary and President and a Principle Industrial Officer. The delegation sought and received assurances that the NSW government is working to minimise the impact of the federal government’s “Skilling Australia’s Workforce Act, 2005”. This legislation seeks to move TAFE employees onto individual contracts as well as having other unpalatable industrial agendas. More details of the government's moves will become available in the near future. Government moves to protect public sector workers impacts on TAFE Below is a quote from Department’s memo explaining the new legislative changes to TAFE's employment conditions. One major improvement is that TAFE support staff will become public servants. These moves appear to complete changes the Association has been seeking for TAFE employees and which were only partially addressed in changes reported last year (see below, the Technical and Further Education Commission Amendment (Staff) Act 2005). The government has been spurred into action by the drastic impact of the Federal government's WorkChoices legislation and by pressure from the unions. The government’s stated intention is to maintain the status quo in relation to salaries and conditions. To be on the side of caution your delegates have requested an urgent meeting with DET/TAFE to answer some detailed questions about some possible implications. From the Department of Education and Training's FAQ: “What are the changes? The TAFE Commission will no longer be the “employer” and staff will no longer be employed under the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Commission Act 1990. All TAFE Commission employees will be employed under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act 2002.” Dec 2005, TAFE delegates fear impact of Skilling Australia's Workforce Act Skilling Australia's Workforce Act, 2005 The Commonwealth Government intends to make TAFE funding dependent on compliance with its anti-worker legislation. Delegates and PSA officials have requested an urgent meeting with the Minister about the implications for TAFE members of the federal government's Skilling Australia's Workforce Act, 2005 which obliges state governments to offer TAFE employees individual contracts in place of their Awards, imposes "performance pay" and opens TAFE colleges to private providers. Central Council has requested that a copy of the agreement signed by the NSW Minister be made available prior to the meeting. DET & TAFE delegates also met on 25 November and had hoped that a meeting with the Minister could have been arranged before then. By February 2006 at the latest the NSW government will have completed its negotiations with the Commonwealth over the State Training Plan. This Plan will outline how NSW will be obliged to implement the Commonwealth's odious IR agenda in TAFE. This deadline makes it even more important for the Association to have discussions with the Minister before such negotiations are completed. Delegates are currently reading the Skilling Australia's Workforce Act, 2005 and Skilling Australia's Workforce (Repeal and Transitional Provisions) Act 2005 . Tell us what you think. Contact us at DET-TAFE@progressivepsa.org Aug 2005, NSW not standing its ground on IR changes TAFE must now offer staff Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) in accordance with the Commonwealth Government's reactionary industrial relations agenda because the NSW Government has agreed to that condition in return for Commonwealth funding. This makes a joke of PSA General Secretary John Cahill's claim that 'a vote for (Education Minister) Carmel Tebbutt is a vote for your rights at work'. Never mind that PSA Rule 3 reads "The Association shall be non-sectarian and shall not take part in or identify itself in any way with party politics". Never mind that Rule 4(a) reads "The funds of the Association shall not be used for the purpose of canvassing for the support of any political party". Never mind that the only party supporting the Commonwealth's IR agenda wasn't fielding a candidate and never mind that the only other candidate with a chance of winning the seat is on the executive of a public sector union (CPSU) and is also solidly opposed to the Commonwealth Government's IR agenda. The Commonwealth provides about a third of TAFE funding. ATCs: another attack on your pay and conditions The Federal Government will spend $289 million over four years establishing 24 new Australian Technical Colleges to operate outside state education systems and the union movement. It is claimed that the ATCs will address skill shortages in regional areas by taking in senior school students. However, PSA Central Councillor Leon Parissi says "All the stated educational claims for the new colleges could easily and more cheaply be accomplished in existing schools or technical colleges". Leon Parissi Central Councillor "The $289 projected in the Budget for establishing the ATCs could be better spent in the existing system. It is substantially less than the amount that the Commonwealth Government has taken out of the TAFE system over recent years by refusing to fund for growth of the system. "TAFE and Public schools have been short-changed by around $592 million over the last 5 years. The proportion of total Government expenses allocated to NSW Department of Education and Training dropped from 26.06% of total government expenses in 1999-2000 to 24.48% in the 2004/2005 budget." "Public schools and technical colleges for school students have been successful in delivering vocational courses and are only limited by the provision of government funds. "When you look at how the new system will be run the real agenda emerges. According to the ATC web site: "The Australian Technical Colleges will operate autonomously, with a governing body chaired by a local business or industry representative and involving local communities. They will offer performance pay and must offer the option of an Australian Workplace Agreement to all staff in accordance with the Workplace Relations Act 1996." "The real agenda of the Howard government is to find another way to impose its draconian anti-worker and anti-union agenda on the education industry. "Although the government says that individual "performance pay" and Australian Workplace Agreements must be "offered" to all staff it is obvious to most observers that the only choice on offer will be 'take it or leave it'. No real choice at all. "This is what the Coalition Government is trying to do to our members in universities. It says ALL new employees must go onto individual contracts (AWAs) and ALL remaining staff must be offered AWAs by mid next year otherwise they face funding cuts. Again, no choice for the supposedly "autonomous" universities or for the new colleges. And no choice for the prospective employees either." "The Teachers Federation is also worried about the impact on public schools. Wendy Currie of the NSW Teachers Federation says ".. the real attack is on public schools. The colleges will draw their students from the local public schools whose numbers will be so diminished that they will not be able to offer a full curriculum to their remaining students”. Education Day of Action June 2005 TAFE and DET union members rally on 29 June 2005 Education sector union members from the PSA and teachers unions display solidarity action against the introduction if individual contracts in universities and TAFE Congratulations to the members and organisers for their excellent work. More pictures. PSA Priorities in Education Many union members questioned the union's priorities during the 2003/04 jobs campaign. We want a union that takes job security seriously. TAFE Conditions of Employment Award, August 2005 Download a copy of the Crown Employees TAFE Conditions of Employment Award. Leaflet for jobs rally 2003 Progressive PSA leaflet for jobs rally 2003 Read, Contribute, Participate Would you like to share some information with other PSA members? Simply email us at DET-TAFE@progressivepsa.org

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Contact the Progressive PSA at:DET-TAFE@progressivepsa.org