School secretaries will benefit from new pay award
by Mehak Dugal
 
Fórsa said the first phase of the official transition to the new payscales is almost over, and the union is preparing for the second shift.
Fórsa said the first phase of the official transition to the new payscales is almost over, and the union is preparing for the second shift.

The second phase of the transition of school secretaries to the new packages of pay and working conditions is due to kick off soon.

 

Earlier this year school secretaries voted overwhelmingly to accept an historic new package of proposals which placed them all on public service salary rates after a decades-long campaign for pay equity.

 

The deal, negotiated by Fórsa, significantly improves incomes and paid leave arrangements for low-paid secretaries, who the union says have been overlooked and undervalued for years.

 

The new agreement saw all school secretaries transfer to a new pay-scale aligned with the public service clerical officer scale. Prior to this, most of them were employed directly by schools, with most earning no more than the minimum wage.

 

Fórsa said the first phase of the official transition to the new payscales is almost over, and the union is preparing for the second shift.

 

For the first time, the agreement will also see salaries averaged over 52 weeks, including the cash value of job seekers benefit, which means secretaries will no longer have to sign on for unemployment benefits during school holidays.

 

The deal also enshrined 22 days paid leave a year, as well as payment for ten public holidays. This replaces ad-hoc arrangements, which left many school secretaries with no paid holidays.

 

Head of Fórsa’s education division Andy Pike said the provision of paid leave is already benefiting many members “who had never received any paid holiday entitlement”.

 

“This deal ensured that, for the first time, secretaries no longer had to sign on for unemployment benefits during school holidays. This was a significant step and a rewarding win for the union - to see it in practice already for our members.”

 

New Pay Award

 

Andy also said he was pleased to report that the secretaries’ incomes would now benefit from the public sector pay awards. Which means they would see the increases awarded under the newly negotiation revised Building Momentum deal in their pay packets.

 

“This was only possible as all school secretaries were on the Department of Education payroll system with standardised pay arrangements across all schools,” said Andy.

 

He also stressed the importance of collective bargaining in achieving these pay improvements and announced that the membership for the education division had now surpassed 17,500 members.

 

You can get details on the new pay proposals HERE.

 

It’s never been more important – or easier – to get the protections and benefits of union membership. Join Fórsa HERE or contact us HERE.

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