Members of the European Free Trade Association with “fire in the belly” are negotiating new enterprise negotiations. For the first time in a generation, we have a proposal for an agreement that puts in place important measures for workload and contracts. The current agreement for school assistants came into force on April 3, 2019. In recent discussions, the ELAA stated that the proposed agreement “focuses on quality outcomes for the early childhood sector, improving the salaries and conditions of teachers and educators and giving employers greater capacity to manage their workforce.” Tasmanian educators ran a quality education campaign that led to the regional elections last March. Since then, they have joined other public sector employees in calling for an end to the 2% cap on wage increases, which has been in effect since 2011. Negotiations for a new business collective agreement (EBA) began late last year. Our school assistants work as part of the ACT Public Sector Administrative and Related Classifications Enterprise Agreement. It is a formal, legally enforceable agreement that we regularly enter into with the ACT government and defines wages, allowances, leave, workload and much more. He says there is agreement in principle on key issues, including moderating the effect of digital communication, respecting educators` leave and violence in the workplace. The ability of employers to address underperformance issues has been successfully negotiated by the ELAA, which ensures that employers can extend the trial period for workers to six months under the proposed agreement, which also allows the employer to formally manage benefit issues. 2020 is the year in which we will begin negotiations for a new agreement establishing your remuneration and terms. The ACT Public Sector Education and Training Directorate (Teaching Staff) Enterprise Agreement is the agreement under which teachers and school psychologists work. It is a formal, legally enforceable agreement that we regularly enter into with the ACT government and defines wages, allowances, leave, workload and much more.
The highlights of the 2016 negotiations the last time the agreement was reached, as found by the AEU, included an annual salary increase of 3 per cent, 15 days off for co-educators and pay parity with teachers at the higher level of early childhood teachers (representing an additional 13 per cent) and pay parity with teachers at the lower level of early childhood teachers (equivalent to 8 additional per cent). ELAA believes that the proposed VECTEA offers a balanced approach for teachers, educators and early childhood providers, according to a statement from the association, which states that the proposed agreement is now reached by the government with regard to adequate funding.