More than 12 months of industrial action by Catholic school teachers in Canberra and Goulburn has come to an end with the union representing staff finally reaching agreement with employers over new pay rates and conditions.
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The Independent Education Union and the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations announced the new enterprise agreement covering 23,000 staff across 36 Catholic schools, in a joint statement on Thursday.
The end to the impasse follows more than a year of negotiations to bring NSW and ACT Catholic school teachers and support staff under one agreement, consolidating eight existing documents which ran out at the end of 2013.
In the most significant change, pay increases for teachers will no longer be based on years' of service, instead teachers will be compared to national teaching standards under an "objective assessment" to decide on their level of pay from January 1, 2016, the commission's executive director, Tony Farley, said.
He said the "important step in professional development" for teachers would lead to improved learning and better schools.
Proposed changes to workloads, professional development and performance reviews sparked stop-work meetings involving as many as 1000 Canberra and Goulburn Diocese teachers last year.
The union's assistant secretary, Mark Northam, said the agreement signalled an end to 14 months of a "protracted struggle" and he was "absolutely convinced" members would vote yes after they grappled with the document.
"The agreement has preserved conditions and further enhanced conditions in some areas," he said.
"At no time was this dispute really about dollars and cents; it was a battle about the retention of conditions in schools and those conditions provide certainty and understanding."
In February the union accused employers of trying to control teachers' lives outside the classroom after the insertion of a new clause requiring teachers and other staff to abide by an "intrusive" code of behaviour in line with Catholic values.
The agreement will contain a statement outlining the expectation "all staff support the teachings and values of the Catholic Church in schools", but the commission said it was reflective of what currently exists in contracts, policies and letters of appointment.
Mr Farley said the inclusion of the statement was not a change of current practice.
Mr Northam said the statement had sparked "significant discussions" but a similar clause had existed since the early 1970s.
He said the new wording would give "greater clarity and mutual understandings".
"Teachers in Catholic schools wouldn't teach a diametrically opposed view to what is a Catholic teaching, within the context of the school and within the context of their interactions with students," he said.
Mr Farley said for Catholic employers the most significant lesson from the negotiations was about staff engagement, signalling a shift to look at solutions generated at a ground level in future.
Mr Northam said schools thrived on certainty and predictability around issues like class sizes, teacher coverage when colleagues were absent, and time away from face-to-face teaching.
Under the agreement ACT teachers will receive a 1.5 per cent pay rise twice yearly until October 2016, including back pay to cover increases due on October 1, 2014, and April 1, 2015.
NSW teachers will receive a 2.27 per cent pay rise backdated to January 1, 2015, and a 2.5 per cent from January 1, 2016.
The agreement will bring all support, operational, maintenance and outdoor staff under one "general employee" classification.
From 2016 general employees will receive wage increases from January 1 each year – the same time as teachers.
Over the first year of the agreement they will receive a 2.27 per cent rise from July 1, 2015, and a 2.5 per cent rise in January 2016.
Mr Farley said staff will vote on the agreement as early as July 20 after the final document is distributed from June 22 for consultation.
If staff vote accept the agreement it will go the Fair Work Commission for approval before coming into effect as early as August, but back pay is expected to begin sooner.
The agreement does not include independent Catholic schools in the ACT.
