Hi everyone and welcome to our EDM8004 blog site. As you may have seen in the Assessment area on StudyDesk, our course is going to help pilot a new ePortfolio platform (CampusPress) this semester. I am excited to be doing this as I will be learning alongside you, developing my own ePortfolio using the same platform.
As part of the trial, I thought it might be nice for us to have a place to share our thoughts about each week’s Industry Presentation. This goes beyond the assessment task, to actually talking about the implications of each presentation for you as a beginning (or soon to be beginning) teacher.
This week’s presentation was by the two education unions in Queensland. The QTU supporting governmental school teachers and the Independent Education Union, supporting those in other schools.
I was a QTU member throughout my career. For me, it was insurance against litigation. However, for me as a young teacher and someone not politically minded, I had always seen unions as a bit unsavoury and militant. Having said that, I most certainly benefited from the union’s cause and saw a raft of improvements due to their influence.
As a principal though, I was sort of caught between a rock and a hard place. When there were strikes, for example, someone had to be at school to look after the students that came in. I also had a young family and mortgage and could not afford to lose a day’s pay.
I’d love to hear your experiences and opinions. Please reply to this post if you would like to join the conversation.
This was an interesting presentation and shows the importance of unions providing an outsider’s perspective.
A relevant example I can give of union power is when an employer tried to implement a two-tier system. In summary, the agreement argued that people who do the same job and have the same experience will be paid less. Employees who had worked for the organisation since a certain date were paid more. The unions fought against this and eventually the employer changed their mind. This particular example was not in the education sector, but highlights the importance of union power.
I have also seen peer pressure utilised by union members trying to sign up more members. In my opinion, it should be individual choice as to whether a person is a member of the union.
Hi Brenton,
I thoroughly agree that membership should be an individual’s choice and that there can be a fine line between encouraging people to join and pressuring them to join.
I suppose the thing I don’t like about it is the political aspect. Being a union member should not be seen as aligning one to a particular political party.
Cheers
Rod
Thanks for providing this to us. The presentation was informative and interesting. It is nice to know what unions represent and how they assist us as upcoming teachers.
Hi Brenton,
Certainly unions have argued for some pretty important changes to working conditions over the years. I agree with you also that people should not feel pressured to join the union. I suppose those union members sometimes feel that non-union workers also benefit by default from the result of union action that they have not contributed to.
Thanks for being first blog poster this semester!!
Lisa
In my previous employment, specifically for the bank, I personally did not see the value in joining a union.
Moving into the teaching profession, I already had a mindset that it was something that was going to be doing. This presentation has come to cement the reasons for doing so. I actually would have benefited from this presentation when I first began the MOLT (now MPLT) program.
I loved this presentation from the QTU. When I first started working in Education, I didn’t believe in the Unions. However after attending a PD run by the Workers union that is for TA’s, I learnt exactly why we need to be in the union.
While it is about the EB agreements etc, the biggest value is in the legal support that is on offer. I will say I have heard were the union hasn’t supported staff in matters, but personally I would have to be asking what else was at play, as I have heard other stories where staff are grateful for the support.
I have had to use our TA union on one occasion where I needed to clarify my rights in a situation. They were extremely helpful, so for me I have already joined QTC.
Thank you for the presentation. I’m joining the union because I think its important to have someone (union) on your side when things go wrong.
I appreciated the question of what would limit me from doing my job. Union representation puts heft behind any action I might need to take to ensure I can work safely and students can be safe. Class numbers, staff ratios, mental health breaks and expenses due to schools not having resources I need will all affect my ability to do a good job.
I think that unions are going to be increasingly vital to maintaining standards within our profession, and more widely across all industries. We’ve seen from the recent COVID impacts that increasing casualisation of the workforce is making us individually and collectively more vulnerable to risk. Ensuring employment helps create a buffer against these issues with annual leave, sick leave, etc. that can be accessed by employees and (in theory) has money set aside by the employer.
I found this presentation interesting, informative and practical. Questions that would present in real daily school situations such as what to do when on playground duty if your replacement has not yet arrived given your duty of care obligations; when you can apply for full teacher registration; the purpose of noncontact time; when to provide a medical certificate; whether you should see an employer-appointed doctor; and joining the IEU and QTU as a preservice teacher were all things that i had not necessarily thought about yet. Dispelling the misconception of teacher unions being a bullying sort of force to be reckoned with, as is often portrayed in the media, was also interesting as basically the unions are advocates for teachers and operate in a professional, courageous, united, democratic and member-focused manner. The presentation showed me the value of joining both teacher unions even now as a preservice teacher as they represent the best interests of education professionals.
Yes it’s interesting how unions are often portrayed in the media…. I guess one has to be aware that much media is now privately owned and so a strong union is not necessarily in the interest of private enterprise.
I really feel as if I had no clue about a lot of the things discussed in this presentation – I found the questions hard to answer and was surprised at the responses. My parents and sister (all teachers) are part of the union and I think we’re really lucky to have an organisation like QTU and the IEU to help represent everyone. Often, I think people feel as if they can’t speak up in the workplace at risk of being alienated or treated differently by their colleagues. So, it feels really comforting knowing I’ll be entering into a career where this is a large cohort of people there to support me. Especially as a woman, being reminded that it wasn’t until the 1970’s that women were paid equally, just highlights the importance of having organisations like these. I thought the presenters were great too, looking forward to the rest of the presentations!
They make some very compelling arguments, so much so that I have signed up already 🙂 I didn’t realise that membership is free for pre-service teachers and that it gives us that extra layer of support and protection while on prac. I really feel that this information should be part of EDM5000 – I would have liked to have known this before now!
Thank you for the feedback, Samfya. I will be sure to get this information to the EDM5000 course team.
Regards
Rod
I found this presentation very informative. I joined the union immediately after partaking in the activities because I realised how detrimental a lack of support could be. I feel like the questions asked are very practical and relate to the day-to-day realities of being employed in a school and this is something we don’t really think about while engrossed in pedagogy and philosophy and curriculum. I agree with Samfya, if I had known that the union membership was free and could be used for legal representation as a pre-service teacher I would have signed up when I began my degree.
I am currently a member of a union in my workplace and it has been very valuable to represent our voices to those who make decisions about work environment, pay, and advocating for workplace rights.
In a job such as teaching where there can be a lot of variability in the work environment (i.e. depending on the students in the classroom, principal decisions, colleagues etc.), I believe it is important that there is another source of support and point of truth regarding the working conditions.
This presentation really gave me an insight of the benefits that being a member of the QTU or IEU can have for teachers including pre-service teachers. The ability to become a member as a pre-service teacher without having to pay the fees is a commendable action shown by both of these organisations. As a pre-service teacher, I have never really thought about the possible ramifications of disputes or conduct breaches whilst out on my previous practical placements. To know that there is a body that supports its members during this early stage of development is something that really stood out for me. Ensuring that advice and guidance is available and if necessary, support through litigation is something that has urged me to become a member of the Queensland Teachers Union. Although that it is unlikely that an event like this would occur during placement, it is best to ensure that you have this coverage before anything occurs.
In contrast, I have had numerous conversations with teachers when out on placement around being cautious when signing initial teaching contracts. To know that QTU and IEU both provide professional advice on contracts is comforting to know when transitioning into full-time employment as a teacher.
Wow, what a wealth of information. Some of the questions posed were very thought provoking. And the answers provided were welcomed as I move forward in my teacher training.
Although I did know membership was free (curtesy of a union rep as a mentor teacher) I still haven’t followed through with joining – but will add to the to-do list.
I also found this presentation so compelling that I joined my union here in NSW. While I don’t necessarily agree with the “Fear of God” approach to “selling” the union, I do understand and appreciate that education has become a minefield for litigation, with a potential lack of support from heads of the school as they seek to protect the school (and perhaps their own) interests. I had an interesting conversation regarding the union, also commenting on the expense of membership. To me, it becomes a liability insurance (but with far greater support) that you would have as a self-employed professional. Therefore, the price is irrelevant but the cost, invaluable.