With a sub par pay offer and no meaningful reduction of workload pressure, RMIT management's proposed Enterprise Agreement for VE teaching staff asks for more but delivers less.
Yet management are bypassing ongoing negotiations with NTEU, instead hoping to convince staff to vote this dodgy deal up in the non-union ballot that opens on Tuesday 12 March.
Despite management claims, this is no sector-leading deal, according to analysis by NTEU Industrial experts, and it falls well short of what VE teachers deserve and expect.
But what's the real deal for you?
- Inadequate pay offer: 2.3% per annum over 4.75 years is behind inflation, behind the national aerage, and behind the cost of living.
- Diminished conditions: increased teaching availability from 7am to 7pm, higher and more intensive teaching loads.
Reject this offer and we can return to bargaining for a better deal. NTEU has negotiated improved pay and conditions elsewhere and we can do the
same for you. Vote no and it sends a clear message to management that staff will not be fobbed off with pay and conditions that leave VE teachers behind their colleagues at RMIT and behind other teachers around Australia.
NTEU industrial experts sifted through the detail of the deal and crunched the numbers to compile this table, showing how the proposal will leave VE teachers worse off:
|
|
RMIT MANAGEMENT PROPOSAL
|
HOW ARE YOU WORSE OFF?
|
|
WAGES
|
9% over 3 years.
|
This is only 2.3% p.a. from the expiry of the last agreement to proposed end.
|
|
WORKING HOURS
|
7am-7pm.
|
Longer hours of teaching availability.
|
|
TEACHING HOURS (TDH)
|
Up to 21 hours a week, all teachers.
|
No range of hours.
|
|
SUPERANNUATION
|
13.5% now, rising to 17% by Nov 2025.
|
Delayed superannuation increase.
|
|
NOTICE AND REDUNDANCY
|
16 weeks notice for termination; 2 weeks severance p.y. service (max. 20).
|
No parity with Professional VE staff
|
|
CASUAL EMPLOYMENT
|
No multiplier on Associate Degree rates; Lower rate for non-teaching duties; Only minimum superannuation.
|
23% casual staff worse off.
|
|
FIXED TERM AND CASUAL CONVERSION
|
Ability to use short, fixed-term sessional contracts; No provision for conversion to ongoing roles.
|
Increased job insecurity.
|
|
FIRST PEOPLES EMPLOYMENT
|
No employment targets.
|
No genuine commitment to employment.
|
|
TEACHING-RELATED DUTY HOURS (TRH)
|
0.75 for every hour taught; No course co-ordination hours
|
No recognition of course co-ordination, extra assessment etc.
|
|
ASSOCIATE DEGREE TEACHING
|
Diploma VE teaching required; No moderation / TEQSA / scholarship allowance
|
No recognition of Associate Degree work.
|
RMIT can do better and you deserve better - VOTE NO.
- Wage increases total only 11% over 4.75 years, which equates to 2.3% per year. The current Agreement expired in January 2022 and there was an admin pay rise of 2% in November 2022. The current draft provides for 9% ( 3x3%) with an expiry date of October 2026.
- Increased span of hours to 7am-7pm.
- Teaching contact of up to 21 hours/week to be averaged over 6 months.
- Graded increase in superannuation to 17% only by November 2025.
- No specific course co-ordination time allowances.
- No acknowledgement of Associate Degree teaching/scholarship at all.
- Reduced rate for casual teaching for lectures.
RMIT Management want to keep VE teachers on a lower level of pay and conditions than their professional staff colleagues in VE college. Here's VE teacher Julian Pratt on why voting no is the best way to send management a message that staff want a better deal than the one on offer:
More information about enterprise bargaining for vocational education teaching staff at RMIT: https://nteu.au/bargaining/rmit_ve
