Catholic school staff could go on strike in term 2 as negotiations over pay and conditions in New South Wales and the ACT stall.
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Independent Education Union delegates voted to begin the process of taking protected industrial action at a council meeting on Saturday.
Members are demanding an end to staff shortages, less paperwork for teachers, more time for planning and a pay increase of 10 to 15 per cent over two years.
Acting branch secretary Carol Matthews said the union had not received any response to their log of claims submitted in November, leaving teachers and support staff feeling frustrated.
"Our view is that a combination of teacher pay plus unsustainable workload is meaning, firstly, the teaching profession is unattractive for school leavers to consider as a career," Ms Matthews said.
"But secondly, experienced teachers are also leaving the profession and it's almost impossible to get casual teachers in many areas."
The union is calling for face-to-face teaching loads to be reduced by two hours a week, despite the dearth of casual teaching staff exacerbated by COVID-related absences.
Ms Matthews said a reduction in face-to-face hours would need to be phased in gradually.
"One issue is that schools would need to employ more ... teachers on a permanent basis to cover those hours. In some cases they could meet that requirement more easily than others," she said.
"It would be phased in and if teaching became more desirable as a profession, there's no doubt that it would be easier to recruit teachers."
Negotiations with representatives of the 11 Catholic Education Diocese will continue this term.
Catholic Education director in Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese Ross Fox said teachers had already received backdated pay rises with a further mid-year pay rise scheduled in the ACT.
"Catholic education is committed to prompt and meaningful dialogue so a new Enterprise Agreement can be settled as quickly as possible," Mr Fox said.
"The IEU has put forward a number of claims and these are currently being assessed as part of the good faith bargaining process which has been underway since January. We look forward to concluding the principles of agreement in the weeks ahead."
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If no significant progress is made in the fortnightly meetings, the union will proceed with a formal protected action ballot in early term 2.
Industrial action could include stopping work, wearing campaign badges or making public statements.
"There are some [actions] that don't disrupt the provision of education and there are some that do and all of them are on the table," Ms Matthews said.
Catholic School administrators are awaiting outcome of the NSW public school negotiations, where the NSW Teachers' Federation is also calling for a 10 to 15 per cent pay increase over two years.
Ms Matthews said about 75 per cent of employees were union members with widespread support for the campaign across the workforce.
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