The December 4 strike action comes just a month after hundreds of Catholic teachers and staff marched through the city’s streets and ended up at the Diocese of Wollongong head office, demanding a right to arbitration.

Seventeen schools across the Diocese of Wollongong Catholic systemic schools took part last month but the Mercury understands 28 schools will stop work for four hours in the next round of industrial action to protest Catholic employers’ ‘’stubborn refusal to strike a reasonable bargain’’.

Read more: Wollongong Catholic teachers rally for their right to arbitration

There will also be a series of regional rallies on December 4, including one at Nowra. Like the Wollongong event, it will start at 9.30am.

Independent Education Union secretary John Quessy said about 350 NSW and ACT schools will participate in the action.

‘’The mood of members has lifted with more than 100 additional schools taking part in this second round of action following a series of a stop works in early November,’’ he said.

Mr Quessy said members were at ‘’boiling point’’ after employers took the unprecedented action of putting an enterprise agreement to the vote without gaining union endorsement.

The employers’ vote is due to begin on Tuesday, December 5.

‘’This has never been done before in Australian history. Catholic employers are coming for our members’ rights and they will not tolerate that. We are urging a ‘no’ vote,’’ Mr Quessy said.

‘’It is clear they want absolute power over their employees and the members are standing firm against this.

‘’Our action is sending a clear message that we reject their enterprise agreement.’’

The Catholic Commission for Employment Relations executive director Tony Farley said the CCER ‘’can’t simply be held to ransom by a union that behaves in such a hypocritical way’’.

‘’We think there is breathtaking hypocracy on the part of the union in opposing a disputes clause which this year supported 450 private schools and which is exactly the same clause which has existed for the last seven years and resolved every dispute,’’ Mr Farley said.

‘’Apparently they are encouraging people to forego 12 months back-pay and a further increase because they have one rule for independent schools and another rule for catholic schools.

‘’The arrogance and the indifference to the truth is breathtaking.’’

But Mr Quessy said union members would not be ‘’held to ransom by employers dangling a meagre pay rise as a carrot’’.

This view was supported by fellow organiser and South Coast Labour Council vice-president Tina Smith.

‘’Teachers are very angry. They know what a threat looks like and that's exactly what's happening,’’ she said.

‘’They've been told to vote yes and you will get your money. But what happens to people who are on short term contracts or people who are retiring.

‘’If this [agreement] doesn’t get over the line by the end of the year then they will get no back pay, even though they've worked the whole year.

‘’It’s quite sad, so we are advocating a no vote.’’

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