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Schools SASS and General Assistants Awards can be found here together with links to DEC and TAFE Awards.
Disability classroom support staff to be cut from schools?
"The state government will overhaul the way it funds school students with disabilities and principals and parents are fearing vital teachers' aides will be lost, classes disrupted and students left to fall through the cracks."
"The chairwoman of the Public Schools Principals Forum, Cheryl McBride, said ''we are waiting for the axe to fall''.
"Ms McBride expects separate funding packages for disability support will be rolled into a single pool to be used to provide more teachers and some online training - but at the cost of teachers' aides."
Read theSydney Morning Herald report, 3 February 2012, "Schools worried overhaul will cut disability funds."
Julia Gillard wants HECS-style loans for TAFE students
Under a smokescreen of removing upfront fees of up to $2,500 for TAFE students the Gillard government plans to impose a loans scheme for fees of up to $7,800. The scheme involves HECS-style loans for higher level courses and guaranteed government-funded training up to Certificate III level. It is widely expected that over time, as with the university loans scheme, there may be no upper limit to how far the fees/loans will extend.
Some commentators see this "support for students" as an assault on free public education. Strangely it comes after Victoria adopted a similar loans system called "student entitlement" and disastrously opened up public funding to private providers. "The Australian Education Union’s NSW branch, which is campaigning against the adoption of similar reforms, has made the same argument.
“Everybody in NSW already has an entitlement to access a government funded place in a TAFE college … with low fees,” said AEU assistant general secretary Peter de Graaff."
Read these media reports:
The AEU's comments in the Australian, 6 Feb 2012: "COAG must act over VET changes"
News.com, 1 February 2012, "Julia Gillard wants HECS-style loans for TAFE students."
The AEU's comments in the Australian, 26 Jan 2012: "HECS for VET a smokescreen: AEU"
The Australian, 2 February 2012, "Experts say loan plan for vocational diplomas will increase students' payments."
Victoria: TAFE budget cut
A recommendation is due to Cabinet within the next couple of months coming out of the NSW governmant's VET review, 'Smart and Skilled: Making NSW Number One'. Union activists are asking once again is Victoria, unfortunately, leading the way by negative example?
"An Essential Services Commission review recommended the [Victorian] government pay private institutions and TAFEs at the same rate for each hour a student is taught. TAFEs currently receive a slightly higher differential funding rate than private businesses."
The Victorian TAFE Association says: "TAFEs have more costs because they provide higher-cost trades training, more quality services - such as libraries and support officers that are often not provided by private organisations - and because they must comply with public service employee conditions."
Read the Victorian media report, 1 February 2012, "Tafe funding cuts a worry."
DEC and TAFE overuse of Agency staff
A PSA submission to the ACTU sponsored 'Independent inquiry into insecure work' revealed that DEC/TAFE spent over $65 million on casual labour hire staff in 2009-2010. That was outdone only by the RTA (now Roads and Maritime Services) on $72 million.
This trend is almost inevitable as managers respond to budget cuts and a recruitment freeze in order to continue providng essential services. At the same time they have a 'reserve army' of easily disposable workers when times get tough. While the current government blames the previous ALP administration they do nothing to relieve the situation.
Read the PS News report, 25 January 2012, "Submission to the Independent Inquiry into Insecure Work in Australia".
Read the SMH report, 23 January 2012 Casual army beats Labor's freeze and Liberal cuts.
College options threaten TAFE health
While overall Vocational Education and Training (VET) in degregulated Victoria has grown the TAFE sector is smaller by proportion with some TAFE Institutes in financial trouble. There are also questions about the quality of some training in the deregulated VET sector.
"Universities are offering more places, boosted by a federal move to deregulation. There's also been an explosion in the number of private colleges over the past decade, but will the increased options for further studies lead to the demise of TAFEs?"
Read the ABC 7:30 transcript, 20 January 2012, "With a growing number of options in tertiary education, is the future of TAFE threatened?".
Also read the Australian article, 24 January 2012, "Vocational training loans are open to rorting, HECS creator warns".
Will NSW resist pressure to adopt TAFE funding model?
In September 2011 The O'Farrell government released a discussion paper 'Smart and Skilled: Making NSW Number One'. It's aim was to promote the national VET 'contestability agenda' which advantages private providers against TAFE. The committee charged with formulating proposals, partly based on public submissions to the 'Smart and Skilled' discussions, is expected to report to Cabinet in March.
Acording to a Sydney Morning Herald article, 12 January 2012, the Education Minister, Adrian Piccoli, is having second thoughts about full contestability.
“Mr Piccoli said he is seeking further advice on student entitlement funding because its introduction in Victoria had achieved mixed results.
''My problem with full contestability … is that it can encourage dodgy operators who take advantage of taxpayers' money,'' he said."
Supporters of public education, including PSA activists, are working hard to promote the advantages of fully government funded vocational education and training. See other related articles below.
Also, read the SMH, 12 January, article "NSW resists pressure to adopt TAFE funds model".
$1bn drop in TAFE funding
"Skills funding policies blew a $1 billion hole in TAFE's budget across five years, according to an analysis by Monash University's Centre for the Economics of Education and Training.” "Victorian and NSW TAFEs fared worst, receiving recurrent government funding of $11.96 and $12.08 an hour, respectively, following steady reductions since the middle of last decade. This equated to declines of 12 per cent in Victoria and 35 per cent in NSW since 1997."
“The NSW Department of Education and Training said TAFE NSW had reduced net costs by almost 9 per cent since 2007 by restructuring the state and institute offices, rationalising delivery, streamlining product development, reducing administration costs and expanding sustainable work practices."
"Skills Australia chief executive Robin Shreeve said efficiency gains were unlikely to account for the entire funding shortfall. He said vocational education and training funding rates had fallen despite increases in other sectors, but "a historic lack of transparency" made it hard to assess .”
The Australian, 14 Dec 2011 Study says TAFE suffered $1bn drop
More questioning of “fully contestable” Victorian VET
John Mitchell reports in the Campus Review, 12 December 2011 “There is a growing chorus of voices questioning the wisdom of the changes made to VET funding in Victoria, led by the minister for education in NSW, Adrian Piccoli (Campus Review, October 18) and the federal minister Chris Evans (Campus Review, November 29).” This report refers also to Dr. Phillip Toner’s response to the Productivity Commission Report. “Toner believes the Victorian policy makers are dismantling TAFE in line with this ideological trajectory, not evidence. “This is privatisation by stealth, it’s a public sell-off, and of course the consequences are absolutely dire,” he said.
“Show me the evidence that the problem was so profound in the delivery by TAFE that it required this phenomenal shock treatment, this complete 180 degree in public policy. Show me the evidence. There isn’t any. And this is where the ideology comes in.”
Campus Review report, 12 Dec 2011 Political Economist Challenge to State VET System
Read also Dr. Phillip Toner's response to the Productivity Commission Report
Questions over student numbers in "fully contestable" Victorian TAFE
"Statisticians have cautioned against reading too much into new figures showing that training in Victoria has slowed since government funding was opened to private competition.
Experts warn that a ‘spike’ in Victorian VET student numbers reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2008 makes it difficult to measure progress since that year’s reforms were launched.
The latest ABS figures, released last week, show that Victorian VET student numbers have grown much more slowly since 2008 than in the three previous years."
"Leesa Wheelahan, of the LH Martin Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Management, said there was “some evidence” of cost-shifting, but that better data was needed to say so definitively.
Dr Wheelahan said the available evidence suggested contestable funding arrangements hadn’t made much difference to overall training effort.
“The market seems to be better at cost-shifting to the public purse than increasing enrolments. Yet the government argues that the market is necessary to increase participation.”
Read the Australian, 8 December, "Victorian 'spike' clouds ABS figures".
Learn from Unis: TAFE fees and loans means cost burden shifts to students and families
"Future law, accounting and economics students will have their HECS fees halved under a radical overhaul of university funding issued by the Government yesterday.
But science students will see their HECS fees almost double if recommendations to increase student contributions to 40 per cent of their degree costs - with 60 per cent to come from Commonwealth coffers - are accepted next year.
The Base Funding Review, by former South Australian Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith, was issued yesterday after being commissioned by the Government in October last year."
Read the Canberra Times, 9 December, "Uni fees shake-up in funds overhaul".
Update: LMBR implementation outsourced, one roll out for all of Education
"IBM and Accenture are locked in a two-way fight for a multimillion-dollar contract to implement the NSW Department of Education and Training's delayed $386 million SAP project."
"To minimise disruption to staff in schools and TAFE colleges, it was decided that instead of having separate rollouts, one for the new finance system, one for the new HR system and one for the new student administration and learning management system, they would be delivered as an integrated solution,"
Read the Australian, 8 December, "IBM, Accenture vie for NSW Education SAP Learning Management and Business Reform contract".
NSW Auditor questions LMBR SAP project
"$386 million finance, human resources and payroll systems project at the NSW Department of Education and Training is over budget and has failed to deliver expected benefits, according to the Auditor--General."
"The ambitious Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR) program, which runs on SAP software, has already cost $176m -- almost half of the total estimated project cost.
The audit report highlights various problems with the SAP implementation, with trained staff a glaring omission.
The eight--year project was originally meant to be completed over in 2014 but the end date now seems unclear.
The implementation of SAP Finance at state and regional office locations in March 2010 did not provide all the expected benefits to the business."
Read the Australian, 7 December, "NSW Education's LMBR SAP project delayed, over-budget: Auditor-General".
O'Farrell 'warning' on public sector salaries
"Barry O'Farrell has declared his intention to see out a ''long innings'' in charge of NSW, while key Liberal Party powerbrokers are now certain he will become a ''three-term premier''.
"He listed other priorities as bedding down public sector wage reforms, and the devolution of more responsibilities to school principals." In the year ahead these Coalition priorities can serve as warnings for PSA members generally and those working in schools in particular.
Read the Sun Herald report, 27 November, "Barry bats for a long innings".
Holmesglen TAFE’s ‘dysfunction’ exposed by Victorian Auditor-General’s report
As reported in earlier articles the industrial reality of the VET sector across Australia is becoming more complex. Potentially workers wages and conditions are at risk.
Victoria's Holmesglen TAFE faces a multitude of issues including contestable funding. We reported earlier that Holmesglen TAFE became embroiled in a scheme to buy a private provider, Carrick. Carrick is now owned not by Holmsglen but by a large US education company, Kaplan. As reported in the The Australian
16/11/2011:
"Victoria’s Auditor-General has exposed bureaucratic dysfunction and almost comedic errors in the handling of Holmesglen TAFE’s abortive attempt this year to buy collapsing private provider Carrick that culminated in the “waste” of $3 million in public money."
Read "Holmesglen TAFE’s ‘dysfunction’ exposed by Victorian Auditor-General’s report"
Or read here: "Holmesglen TAFE’s ‘dysfunction’ exposed by Victorian Auditor-General’s report"
Fair Work Australia or WorkChoices lite?
TAFE workers who are about to come under Fair Work Australia industrial relations should take as a warning the recent events befalling both QANTAS workers and Victorian Nurses. Neither dispute is yet settled but the outcome may well tell TAFE workers something of what to expect under Fair Work Australia.
“Victorian nurses have failed in their bid for a stay on a Fair Work Australia order to stop unprotected industrial action.
The nurses are pushing for an 18.5 per cent pay rise over three years and guaranteed staffing levels or nurse-patient ratios. The Government has offered a 2.5 per cent pay rise per year plus productivity gains.”
ABC News report, 22 November 2011: "Nurses suffer legal setback over industrial action".
The industrial relations future of TAFE? Fair Work Australia
NSW agenda: A “Smart & Skilled” TAFE or is privatisation an option?
Another warning for NSW and more bad news from fully contestable Victorian VET. "Box Hill Institute of TAFE students will be hit with higher fees amid fears teachers and courses are facing the axe after state funding cuts.
The changes are designed to curb spiralling costs that stem from students accessing public funding to courses, whether taught in a public or private institution." Whitehorse Leader, 16 November 2011.
"Money or nothing for Box Hill Institute"
FURTHER UPDATE: It comes as no surprise that a NSW Employer organisation backs "Victorian-style training reforms" which would financially benefit private providers of VET. Meanwhile more reports from Victoria highlight the drawbacks of such "reforms".
"the Victorian TAFE Association said the Victorian reforms had been a disaster. “VET marketisation in Victoria is out of control and in its current form is detrimental to all stakeholders – students, employers, the government [and] public, private and community providers interested in quality training outcomes,” executive director David Williams told a Sydney forum last week."
The Australian, 21 November 2011.
"Employers back NSW VET market"
The Australian, 19 November 2011. "Selling TAFEs isn’t on the Victorian Government’s agenda, but it has welcomed last week’s draft report calling on it to consider the move as a “longer-term option”.
"University of Melbourne tertiary education researcher Leesa Wheelahan said TAFE privatisation would be “a big step backwards”.
Dr Wheelahan said the state needed to ensure there were “robust public providers” capable of supporting the education and training of the community. To do otherwise would be “abrogating its responsibilities, based on the belief that everything that can be done through the market”.
In an ominous sign that the private sector wants to grab even more of the public purse Claire Fields representing a section of the private VET sector, said: “Where it’s demonstrably in the public interest, capital funding for VET should not be limited just to the TAFE sector.”
"'No discussions' on privatisation".
O’Farrell’s agenda: A “Smart & Skilled” TAFE or the demolition of TAFE NSW?
It’s a dive to the bottom for publically funded Vocational Education and Training. Full contestability of VET funding in TAFE NSW would mean that wages and conditions need to be driven down in order to compete on a lowest common denominator with the private providers. Where full contestability has happened, in Victoria, the public funded TAFEs are in financial trouble as private colleges spring up like mushrooms to teach cheap and easy courses like the 1000% increase in ‘personal training’ that happened there. O’Farrell’s agenda: A “Smart & Skilled” TAFE or the demolition of TAFE NSW?
The Gillard government agenda for TAFE is unfortunately similar to the O'Farrell agenda. The same language is used, "contestability" and "entitlement". Student loans is code for shifting the cost burden to the student and their family in a system where market forces dominate over social need: Gillard pushes loans for TAFE fees
In an article advocating closer relationships between TAFEs and universities Leesa Wheelehan and Gavin Moodie in Campus Review, 7 November 2011 write: "Since the state governments seem intent on sacrificing their TAFE systems on the altar of the market, it behoves TAFE to develop strategies to protect itself because it won’t be protected by government."
"The TAFE revolution is here"
Commission Amendment (Staff Employment) Bill 2011
The TAFE Commission Amendment Bill was dropped, unannounced, into Parliament late on Tuesday 11 October, 2011.
The TAFE Commission will be the employer of current TAFE employees and of "persons employed in the Department of Education and Communities to assist the Commission in the exercise of its functions".
There will be a 12 month "transition period".
No consultation has been undertaken with the unions involved. As a result not all the implications of this legislation are clear.
TAFE employees are to be trandsferred to the Federal Fair Work Australia industrial jurisdiction.
"Core conditions" of hours of work, salary, shift, overtime and penalty rates, allowances, and leave and wages are guaranteed only for one year.
New "Agreements" about wages and conditions will be negotiated under the Federal system.
Thousands of support staff and teachers will be affected.
It appears that the wages and conditions restrictions of the NSW Public Sector will continue to apply to TAFE Commission employees.
Click here to find read the Amendment Bill in full.
Click here to find read the Minister's speech to Parliament.
The industrial relations future of TAFE? Fair Work Australia
"Smart & Skilled"? Student voucher system a threat to TAFE
Smart and Skilled or fully commercialised and in debt? Unlike Victorian TAFE this is still an open question in NSW.
“The NSW government is likely to shake-up vocational education and training by allowing private colleges and universities to compete with TAFE providers and garner public funding for every student they attract.” SMH 29 September. Progressive PSA supporters have been warning of a threat to TAFE coming from proposed HECS style student loans and student voucher systems. Now the NSW government is considering introducing the failing Victorian system. But there is hope that commonsense will prevail with the some Commwealth Ministers and even the NSW Education Minister casting doubt about a full market based VET system.
Six community consultations are scheduled for regional and urban locations, with three forums with key stakeholders and a call for written submissions open until November 4. Read the September 2011 Discussion Paper Smart and Skilled: making NSW number one
For more information read these media reports. Also, scroll down for more articles:
NSW Opposition Leader, John Robertson tells Cowra Community News, 5 October 2011,: "O’Farrell must guarantee future of TAFE colleges"
"A financial report from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research shows that last year's VET revenue boost of about $420 million couldn't match a $770m hike in operating expenditure sparked by an 8 per cent increase in training." The Australian, 5 October 2011,: "Students, TAFEs feel the squeeze"
Victorian fitness instructor courses jump 1000%, TAFEs languish. The Australian, 17 August 2011,: "Boom for private providers"
SMH, 29 September 2011: Students face open market in plans for TAFE revamp.
The Australian, 29 September 2011: NSW looks to move down market-based training path.
The Australian, 21 September 2011: Victorian TAFEs in financial trouble.
Bleak future tipped for TAFEs
"Victorian TAFE Association chief David Williams said the public providers' share of government-funded enrolments had plunged to 52 per cent from 75 per cent in 2008."
"Mr Williams said the number of private colleges receiving government training funds had increased from about 200 to 380": The Australian September 07, 2011.
UPDATE: 'Pat Forward, national TAFE secretary for the Australian Education Union, described the situation as "extraordinary" and called on the state government to re-evaluate its market-oriented reform under which public and private providers compete equally for publicly funded student places. "TAFE is struggling to survive competition on price alone under Victorian reforms," Ms Forward said.'
The Australian, 21 September.
Victorian TAFEs in financial trouble.
Federal VET reforms a threat to TAFE
"The Council of Australian Governments (CoAG) has noted the key role TAFE plays in delivering high quality technical training, encouraging participation of disadvantaged students and providing services particularly in regional and remote areas.Despite CoAG noting this vital role TAFE plays in the Australian economy, it has failed to advocate improved funding for TAFE.
Changes that have been proposed to CoAG will harm the TAFE system by:
forcing TAFE colleges to compete for funding against each other and private operators;
imposing competitive neutrality principles on the TAFE system, which will increase operating costs and reduce TAFE's capacity to deliver training;
introducing a HECS-style scheme for TAFE students that will increase student fees and charges."
The NSW Teachers federation has started a campaign to support public education: TAFE is the answer.
Corporate Services reform – getting zapped by SAP
The NSW public service is undergoing massive structural change driven by a government strategy to centralise corporate service functions including finance, payroll and recruitment in a small number of shared service centres. The impact on thousands of PSA members is great. Job losses, work intensification and dislocation are just some of the impacts. Click on the link above for more information and comment by the Progressives.
UPDATE: Liberal politician Catherine Cusack writing in the Sunday Telegraph, 17 July 2011, warns about the experience of Queensland and Western Australia with shared corporate services and hopes that the O'Farrell government learns the right lessons. So do PSA members in DEC corporate, schools and TAFE! Read the article here
FURTHER UPDATE: WA Liberal government unravels shared corporate services. PSNews reports that "The Western Australian Government has scrapped its Office of Shared Services following an investigation by the State’s Economic Regulation Authority."
Read the article Shared Services to
share no more
Vocational Education and Training (VET) becoming more complex
The industrial reality of the VET sector across Australia is becoming more complex. Potentially workers wages and conditions are at risk.
TAFE faces a multitude of issues including contestable funding, increased government support for private colleges, and increased pressure on TAFE budgets. There is also the trend towards full student fees, student loans and student vouchers undermining the idea of government funded education. Overshadowing those issues is the prospect of standalone TAFE Institutes negotiating their own industrial conditions and wages separately.
Michael Stutchbury writing in the Australian, 21 December 2010 warned Julia Gillard that “she won't get far in health or education with a one-size-fits all industrial relations system that re-empowers the old award system, the industrial tribunal and the unions.” He went on to complain that TAFE is “smothered by statewide industrial agreements”.
While Stutchbury admits that TAFE system trains 1.7 million students he fails to mention the high levels of student satisfaction as recorded in surveys under the same system he criticises.
Now there is the prospect in Victoria at least that one government owned TAFE Institute is reported to be in talks to buy into a private provider, a deal worth $10m.
“In what would be a groundbreaking deal in the ongoing shake-up of a sector hard hit by the downturn in international students, Victoria’s state-owned TAFE Holmsglen is in talks to acquire a stake in major private college operator Carrick Education Group...... The Australian understands the talks are aimed at establishing an alliance through which Holmsglen could use Carrick’s interstate campuses to jointly expand availability of its courses beyond Victoria." The Australian, 27 January 2011.
The industrial implications of this changing environment are as yet unclear. However we know that in general private providers tend to employ largely casual staff at lower rates of pay than TAFE workers who are covered by mainstream unions such as the PSA and the teachers union.
To become aware of these trends is the first step in formulating an industrial strategy to protect our jobs and conditions.
Federal Productivity Commission report
Released in November 2010, the Productivity Commission Report into VET is important and deserves our attention regarding the potential industrial implications contained for support staff. Some of these issues have been canvassed previously but this report defines a higher level of potential threat to our wages and conditions.
As union members we should all make the effort to educate ourselves about the potential impact of:
Each Institute becoming its own employing authority – like the universities – where all wages and conditions are negotiated separately at each Institute.
“industrial relations settings in the public VET sector [to] become more flexible and transparent. In particular, there should be enterprise-level wage agreements, contemporary performance management arrangements, and flexibility of employment arrangements that best suit the needs of students, employees and the employer.” [a recommendation]
The implicit criticism on the “cap” on numbers of casual staff employed.
To read the Productivity Commission report click here
Federal election thoughts
An interesting article in the Daily Telegraph 5 August about the Federal election and education funding. After you read it go on to click on to the Liberal Party web site and check out what the Opposition says about Training and Apprenticeships. There is scant reference to policy of any sort except attacks on the perceived inadequacies of the Government. At least with the government, poor as they may be, there exist policies to debate and discuss. One can only assume that the Opposition policy on vocational training and TAFE would follow general Opposition education policy. And as Maralyn Parker, Education writer of the Daily Telegraph, points out with the Opposition she found only a tremendous push for private schooling.
To Read the Daily Telegraph article click here
Pay deal update
The 2008 PSA pay deal has already reduced some working conditions for many members. Through the DET Savings Implementation Plan more cuts to conditions and jobs are claimed. Because only 2.5% of the 4% pay rise was Treasury funded an opportunity was created for further claims by management.Senior PSA officials claim that: "It was agreed by both parties to negotiations through a Memorandum of Understanding that most of the 1.5% difference would be gained through reforms contained in the MOU. The Government has reneged on this agreement." (PSA SAS Staff News, 10 November, 2009) Many members question whether this is the full story.
Progressive PSA supporters in Schools, DET and TAFE are actively supporting efforts to organise against these claims by DET. We call for united action across all members in schools, DET and TAFE not the current approach which leaves the membership divided.
To Read more click here
Performance Development Schemes
When done properly Performance Feedback systems can be good for employees because they force supervisors to say how they will assist anyone who they think isn't doing well rather than focussing on punitive behaviour that does nothing to help the employee.
In each agency the performance schemes have different names e.g. 'performance development', 'performance feedback', 'coaching and performance' etc. Many members express concern that managers may misuse Performance Management (as it is called in DET/TAFE) as a form of bullying.
Where an employee "Exceeds most performance expectations" according to the DET Performance Management and Development Scheme there is concern that this may lead to staff being expected to work outside SODs or PDs. The statement "delivering work outcomes and results above what could normally be expected at the staff member’s classification level" reinforces this. There is the implication that agreeing to work outside the position would result in a more favourable performance rating. No individual can be expected to work beyond his or her SOD or PD. Work performance can only be measured against the duties listed in a SOD or PD.
Click here to find out what you can do to turn performance feedback to your advantage.
Schools members
Schools GAs Must Stay
In 2007 the DET had discussions with the union regarding General Assistants undertaking an ‘’enhanced’’ role in the school facilities maintenance contracts.
The union was later advised by the DET that this would be negotiated with the renewal of the school maintenance contracts.
Then, in April 09, the DET announced the preferred option was to introduce a new classification of GA/Cleaner to be taken up with the commencement of the new school maintenance / cleaning contracts in 2010-11. Should this be the case, it would be a rationalisation of the 2 positions - GA/Cleaner, effectively providing a much diminished service to schools. Delegates have commented that they do not believe the GA component would play any official role in the facilities maintenance contract, other than menial tasks. The proposed ''enhanced'' maintenance contract role, where GAs would perform major role in the implementation and overseeing of the school facilities maintenance, went overboard. Currently maintenance supervision is meant to be done by school principals. In reality many GAs undertake this role ''unofficially''.
Now, General Assistants in schools are facing privatisation as a result of a complete back flip by DET.
PSA GA members are mobilising and are networking on line, and advising the broader school communities of the negative impact this will have on their respective schools and the quality of public education for students.
Parallels with the failure of privatising of government school cleaners gives a very clear picture what schools can expect if this proposal goes through. After cleaning was contracted out standards dropped. Many parents and schools based employees have consistently noted the huge reduction in cleaning standards, based on the significant loss of cleaning positions in schools.
PSA announced that the ‘’GAs Must Stay’’ – Public Education - No Privatisation’’ campaign starts in earnest the week commencing 18 May 2009.
To be successful this campaign must be won on the ground, with GAs taking a significant role and ownership by enlisting the support and solidarity from a range of different school community stakeholders.
STOP PRESS: Collective action wins! DET has reversed its decision to privatise School General Assistants
DET/TAFE members
The new Managing Excess Employees Policy from the Nov 2008 Salaries MOU is being implemented in DET and TAFE.
The Department Premier & Cabinet announced a new Managing Excess Employees Policy in late May 2008 and the PSA Executive objected in early June 2008. The PSA Executive then accepted the new policy which emphasises forced redundancy ‘as a last resort’ as part of the Memorandum of Understanding. Click here for the Premier's Memorandum on Forced Redundancies as accepted by the current PSA General Secretary.
Around 12 May 2009 a number of long term displaced employees have been given letters under the new policy. They had been informed of being excess to establishment in April 2008. In spite of the new policy being officially implemented only on 4 May this year their letters have in effect been backdated to April 2008. The Department has ‘granted an extra three months retention period’ till August this year when they may be given a further three months notice of being made redundant if no permanent or temporary position has been found within that time.
They have been offered the standard voluntary redundancy offer and have till 27 May to accept it. It is unclear whether the redundancy payment is still on offer if not taken up before 27 May.
DET/TAFE members
Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR)
Learning Management and Business Reform (LMBR) program is a large scale, complex computer-based program that will bring about a staged replacement of the current personnel, finance and student administration systems in schools, TAFE NSW and across the Department.
PSA delegates met with the Department on 14 April 2009 in the first of a series of meetings to be held over the coming months. At this early stage of consultation it is not possible to give members a clear picture of the industrial impact of this massive reform agenda. Some members working in affected areas report that "they have been told” that their jobs are at risk. But it is too early to say with any certainty just whose jobs will be impacted or exactly how.
One of the issues soon to confront members is the effect of taking time from their normal work to test the SAP systems. Your delegates put a case for extra resourcing so that members don’t come back to a double workload. This was declined by management. The union will continue to pursue the matter.
Schools members
General Assistants Facilities Maintenance in Schools
As an act of ‘goodwill’ many General Assistants work beyond their Statement of Duty in the administration of maintenance contracts. Union officials say that this issue cannot be raised until after the current maintenance contract expires in 2010.Members have not been consulted , nor formally advised about this development, and for union officials simply to remind General Assistants to work to their current SoDs is not good enough. There are regular meetings between top union officials and senior management (sometimes including the Minister) on a regular basis. If management expects GAs to do this extra work the issue of compensation must be raised sooner rather than later.
Schools members
General Assistants Wage Anomaly
Permanent part time School General Assistants who work less than 38 hours per week are paid at a higher hourly rate than full time General Assistants. This wage anomaly was detected by DET in 2008. DET has yet to come up with a fair and reasonable proposal with the PSA to overcome this problem. The PSA has put forward two proposals to date, both of which have been rejected. The Chair of the PSA General Assistant’s Working Party has a proposal to solve this matter. This proposal simply involves giving full time permanent General Assistants an extra Rostered Day Off per month to be taken only in the school vacation. This proposal would be cost neutral. Unfortunately this proposal has not been able to be put to members as a solution due to PSA officials not scheduling meeting dates for the GA Working Party for 2009
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."
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.”
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, 2009
Download a copy of the 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-Schools@progressivepsa.org
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