‘Severe misstep’: Teachers’ pay offer slammed by former Labor premier
By Michael McGowan and Lucy Carroll
The authors of a blueprint into fixing teacher salaries have accused the Minns government of a severe misstep in its wage negotiations, saying Labor’s offer would undermine its own efforts to plug severe staff shortages.
The government is facing an intense backlash from its union allies after negotiations fell apart last week, with teachers vowing to walk out of school visits by Premier Chris Minns or Education Minister Prue Car.
A one-year deal previously agreed to by the union would have boosted salaries for graduate teachers by 12 per cent, while the most senior staff got 8 per cent. But the government has since pushed for a four-year agreement which would cap wage increases at 2.5 per cent for the final three years of the deal.
That led to NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos accusing them of an “act of betrayal”, while the state’s top union official, Mark Morey, warned that Labor risked losing the support of tens of thousands of public sector workers.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos (pictured at last year’s Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit) accused Labor of betraying teachers.Credit: Rhett Wyman
Now the authors of the Gallop Report into teacher salaries, hailed by Premier Chris Minns as the “blueprint for the change needed”, have blasted Labor.
That report, funded by the Teacher’s Federation, was headed by former WA Labor premier Geoff Gallop, ex-NSW Industrial Relations Court judge Patricia Kavanagh and former Institute of Teachers chief executive Patrick Lee. It recommended increases of between 10 and 15 per cent in 2022 and 2023.
In a joint statement, the co-authors said the government’s first-year offer, which would make teachers in NSW among the highest paid in the country, would help address the “severe crisis” in the profession.
However, they say those gains would be undercut by the push for a four-year deal which then locks in 2.5 per cent increases equal to the Coalition government’s wages cap.
“The insistence … on then imposing a return for three years of the O’Farrell government’s 2.5 per cent salary cap is a severe misstep and would undermine the very important step taken with the new scale,” the co-authors said in a joint statement.
“It also is in stark conflict with the government’s promise to dismantle that cap.”
They said the offer “breaks faith with election commitments and begins the immediate erosion of the very reform that is needed”.
Former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop conducted a year-long inquiry into teacher workload and conditions.Credit: James Brickwood
The NSW Teacher’s Federation is furious because it believed it had locked in the one-year interim deal, which would have been replaced by a long-term agreement based around potential productivity gains once Labor had delivered its promised overhaul of the state’s Industrial Relations Commission.
The NSW government and the federation had agreed on pay increases that would have boosted graduate pay from $75,791 to $85,000, while top teachers would have jumped from $113,042 to $122,100 in October.
While the government indicated that identifying and agreeing on productivity improvements was a key sticking point, another contentious issue was a proposal to lift the pay of school counsellors and senior school psychologists to the level of assistant principal and deputy principal.
“Recent comments I have made about productivity improvements are not about asking teachers to take on more work,” Carr said. “The productivity I’m talking about goes to the system that supports frontline teachers. I want schools to be more efficient and effective, so they support teachers rather than piling more work on them.”
Gavrielatos said the one-year package was “negotiated and agreed to by the department, and the deal was sealed” with Car and Treasurer Daniel Mookhey on May 31.
“A 2.5 per cent increase from year two would erode efforts aimed at recruiting and retaining teachers,” he said.
Head of the NSW Secondary Principals Council Craig Petersen said it was disappointing the salary agreement was not finalised.
“The workforce is fragile. And we need a range of issues addressed, particularly around workload and administrative burden. And we would like to see more clarity around what the government’s intention is on productivity improvements,” he said.
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