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Teacher aides and cleaning staff are on the brink of accepting a fresh wage offer from the state government after more than four months of negotiations.
The United Workers’ Union – representing about 27,000 teacher aides and school cleaners – said it had accepted a deal with the state in-principle, and would put the terms to members.
“The next step in our democratic processes is to survey our members for their feedback on the proposed agreement,” the union said.
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said he expected teacher aides and cleaners would accept the government’s wage offer.Credit: Catherine Strohfeldt
If the members supported the agreement, the Education Department would put the vote to all workers.
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek said he expected workers would support the new offer.
“Importantly, the union leadership are recommending a yes vote, that’s why we’re confident it will be accepted,” he said.
He said the deal offered the state’s set wage increase 8 per cent over three years, which could balloon to 10.5 per cent in line with inflation.
“It’s an offer that has higher wages, better conditions, and improved incentives,” Langbroek said.
He said the agreement offered teacher aides time off in lieu for attending camps, and bonuses for working with students with disabilities or administering medication.
“We know that these are the types of things that happen in our diverse school populations … and we’re making allowances for that,” Langbroek said.
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For cleaners, Langbroek said the state was offering more time in lieu for professional development and education opportunities.
The offer is the second put to UWU from the state, and the union and Education Department entered conciliation in mid-October, six weeks after the deal expired and more than two months after negotiations began.
In mid-October, the union called on the state to show school cleaners and teacher aides respect.
On Tuesday, Langbroek said he hoped the new working conditions offered in the deal would show “the government’s appreciation of the diverse work that’s done in our schools by both teacher aides and cleaners”.
The UWU said its workers had led the bargaining process, and confirmed bargaining representatives had “put forward their recommendation for endorsing the in-principle agreement”.
The minister said the Queensland Teachers’ Union cancelled a scheduled meeting on Tuesday after the union last week held its second strike in six months.
“This was supposedly a reason last week why the strike or the industrial action was conducted,” he said.
The QTU said the meeting had been unrelated to the wage dispute, and had been cancelled the previous morning following a medical emergency, with rescheduling under way.
Teachers rejected the state’s latest offer in late October, and the state began preparing to hash the wage dispute out before the Industrial Relations Commission.
The union said it was prepared to end strike action early if the minister or Premier David Crisafulli reopened negotiations, offered a better deal, or agreed to the union’s terms for arbitration.
On the day of the strike, Langbroek said he was not prepared to meet with the union, and days later Crisafulli said the only phone call he would make would be to the commissioner to begin arbitration.
The QTU and state government will enter arbitration on January 1 next year.
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