KINDERGARTEN staff in Ipswich joined colleagues across Queensland in rejecting what their union calls “outdated” working conditions, warning the employer’s stance risks worsening teacher shortages and undermining the quality of early childhood education.
In a ballot, teachers and assistants at more than 140 Creche and Kindergarten (C&K) centres, including those in Sadliers Crossing, North Booval and Yamanto, overwhelmingly voted down their employer’s proposed agreement.
Of the 590 employees who took part – a 69 percent turnout – 381 (nearly 65 percent) voted no.
Andrew Elphinstone, the Independent Education Union (IEU-QNT) organiser for Ipswich, said the result was a clear message from staff.
“Thankfully, employees overwhelmingly rejected the employer’s plan for outdated working conditions at the ballot,” he said.
A major sticking point is the limited administrative time allocated to kindergarten directors, which Mr Elphinstone said had not kept pace with the demands of the job.
“How a director uses their time will vary from director to director, centre to centre,” he said.
“The core issue is that the time allocated to undertake tasks such as managing compliance, child protection and quality education delivery has not increased in many years, despite the workload increasing.”
Mr Elphinstone warned that Ipswich’s C&K teachers and assistants could soon lose the professional parity with the public sector they have had for decades.
“Professional wages in line with the public sector are the only way to maintain professional respect for teachers and assistants in the early childhood education sector,” he said.
With teacher shortages already at crisis levels, Mr Elphinstone said C&K’s stance could drive more educators away from the profession locally.
“Without contemporary working conditions being offered, the chance that an employee will leave for better conditions elsewhere increases. This is the case in Ipswich and across Queensland,” he said.
That instability, he said, ultimately flowed through to the quality of education children receive.
“If staff are forced out of the sector because of outdated conditions, the quality of early childhood education being provided for students at centres is at risk,” he said.
Mr Elphinstone also criticised C&K’s proposals around parental and long service leave, saying they placed staff at a disadvantage compared to their peers in other education sectors.
“C&K wanted to keep paid parental leave ‘hidden’ in policy instead of being where it should be – in the collective agreement,” he said.
“They also wanted to continue only paying this when the employee returns to work, rather than when they are on leave.
“On long service leave, C&K wanted staff access to remain at 10 years, despite the broader education sector offering it after seven. For context, Catholic sector employees have had access to this for 25 years.”
Mr Elphinstone said Ipswich parents and the wider community had a key role to play.
“Parents understand how hard teachers and assistants at C&K Branch Centres work to provide quality early childhood education for their children – we know they stand in support of staff who deserve better than outdated working conditions,” he said.
“With most staff having voted and the majority of them voting no, the onus is clearly now on C&K to return to the negotiating table with a proposal that values and respects staff and students.”
