Catholic teachers fume at pay rise delay
Anger is building among teachers in Catholic schools who are yet to receive the pay rise that public school teachers got six months ago.
The Independent Education Union, which represents teachers in private schools, says pay negotiations have stalled because the Catholic Education Office keeps cancelling meetings.
The union wrote to the CEO this week demanding that teachers be paid a 2.75 per cent increase, backdated to December 6, that State school teachers received last year.
Catholic teacher pay rates have traditionally kept pace with those in public schools.
IEU secretary Theresa Howe said it had requested a response by Friday.
If the CEO did not agree to an immediate pay rise, she said many teachers would start refusing to attend after-school meetings, school camps, sports training and functions.
Ms Howe said the union first put up its claims in September, but the CEO rejected them because it wanted to review existing clauses on parental leave and incentives for working in remote areas.
There had been only two meetings since then and the CEO had failed to provide information on the changes it wanted.
"This is unprecedented for us - that we enter into negotiations and we can't get meetings with the employer," Ms Howe said.
"Our members are very annoyed and they want that pay increase.
"I've been negotiating with the Catholics for 20 years and I've never seen anything like this."
CEO executive director Tim McDonald said he could not comment on specific issues while negotiations were continuing.
"Catholic education is always working in the best interests of our staff to ultimately deliver the best possible outcomes for students," he said.
'Our members are very annoyed and they want that pay increase.'" IEU secretary _ *Theresa Howe * _
