Hundreds of teachers at 17 Catholic schools across Wollongong will go on strike next Monday as the union representing independent schools and the Catholic schools employment body struggle to negotiate a new enterprise agreement.
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On November 6, teachers and support staff in the Diocese of Wollongong Catholic systemic schools will walk off the job until 12.30pm. They will also hold a rally at Wollongong’s Crown Street Mall from 9.30am.
A Diocese of Wollongong spokesman said 21 of its systemic schools will not take industrial action.
Teachers and staff across NSW and ACT will though take industrial action over their right to arbitration next week, but all schools will remain open and no students sitting their HSC exams will be affected, according to a spokeswoman for the Independent Education Union.
In September IEUA representatives dropped by the Wollongong Diocese head office and handed over a petition signed by 840 members from 32 schools calling on its director to quickly resolve this dispute.
But the union and the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations have failed to reach a new enterprise agreement after the previous agreement covering Catholic systemic schools expired in December last year.
The union's NSW and ACT branch secretary John Quessy said the strike is the last resort.
‘’We’re not sure why they are singling out Catholic schools in NSW and the ACT,’’ Quessy said.
‘’Without the right to arbitration, enterprise agreements are compromised.
‘’While we are loathe to take any action which disturbs students’ education, it’s crucial that employers cannot stop the Union seeking a hearing at the Fair Work Commission.’’
However, the executive director of the CCER Tony Farley said that the dispute resolution procedures proposed in the new agreement are the same ones that have been in place for the past seven years.
"They do have access to arbitration via consent of both parties, it's exactly the same agreement that the union agreed to for 450 independent schools this year," Mr Farley said.
He said pay rises of 2.5 per cent every January for three years between 2017 and 2019 have been agreed to and teachers in the Catholic school system will receive back pay that includes this year's pay rise once an agreement has been reached.
Full list of Catholic schools that will strike on Monday
Primary Schools
- Holy Family Catholic Parish Primary School, Ingleburn
- Mary Immaculate Catholic Parish Primary School, Eaglevale
- St Columbkille's Catholic Parish Primary School, Corrimal
- St Justin’s Catholic Parish Primary School, Oran Park
- St Michael’s Catholic Parish Primary School, Nowra
- St Paul’s Catholic Parish Primary School, Albion Park
- St Pius X Catholic Parish Primary School, Unanderra
- St Thomas More Catholic Parish Primary School, Ruse
- St John the Evangelist Catholic Parish Primary School, Campbelltown
Secondary Schools
- Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Oak Flats
- Holy Spirit College, Bellambi
- John Therry Catholic High School, Rosemeadow
- Magdalene Catholic High School, Narellan
- Mount Carmel Catholic College, Varroville
- St Benedict's Catholic College, Oran Park
- St Joseph’s Catholic High School, Albion Park
K-12 School
- St Francis Catholic College, Edmondson Park
