09 NovVECTEA demonstrates bargaining possibilities
This week, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill will be debated in Federal Parliament. This proposed legislation aims to reduce complexity around bargaining requirements and has been promoted as a key enabler of supporting wages in low-paid sectors.
For Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), action cannot come soon enough. Whilst looking for interim options to support the retention of staff such as short-term wage subsidies, employers, peak bodies and unions alike are looking restlessly toward the passing of the bill to commence negotiations on new agreements.
ELAA’s longstanding experience as a peak body and employer bargaining representative in Victoria shows that bargaining across hundreds of small and large early childhood providers is possible, can secure superior wages and conditions through government funding, and increases retention and quality.
Later this week, ELAA will be submitting recommendations to the inquiry on the Fair Work Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill, outlining how the Victorian Early Childhood Teachers and Educators Agreement (VECTEA) has been a successful single interest bargaining tool for services to use in Victoria. The Victorian government supports the VECTEA through additional funding, as it provides certainty of employment arrangements across 383 kindergarten services with additional agreements for 26 services electing to ‘mirror’ its terms and conditions.
By providing better pay and conditions, the VECTEA helps kindergartens to attract and retain teachers and leads to quality delivery for children.
This legislation, if passed, will offer some formative changes to the ECEC sector and wages. It is important for ELAA to continue conversations with both State and Federal governments and offer our experience and expertise in the Industrial Relations space when changes occur.
The Sector has published an opinion piece written by the ELAA team on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill and next week we will provide a summary and link to our submission on our website.
To access The Sector article, please CLICK HERE.
