NSW independent school teachers: pay

Short video update on the state of pay for teachers in NSW independent schools.

Transcript

Hi, I’m Carol Matthews, Branch Secretary of the IEU.

Over the past week, you’ve probably seen several updates about our bargaining with the AIS for the teachers MEA in independent schools.

I want to give you the facts—clear and simple.

The union’s goal is always to act in the best interest of our members. This is not about technical arguments about the type of MEA, it’s about getting the best deal for you, our members. That’s why we couldn’t accept the current proposed CMEA from the AIS.

Let’s break this down:

The AIS claims their offer for NSW teachers is 6% above the October 2023 government school rates. But here’s the catch:

When government school pay rates increase by at least 3.5% to 4% effective from October 2024, the margin drops to just 2.4% above government school rates.

This table compares the AIS’ pay offer to NSW government school rates over the course of the proposed CMEA. The red figures on the table, particularly in October 2025, highlight when the rates in independent schools will fall behind NSW government schools.

For Band 2 teachers classified at Step 2.5, the offer was never 6% higher than the current government school rates. In fact, it’s only 4.2% higher, and by October 2025, these teachers more than 2% behind.

We’re also concerned about how teachers will move to the new pay scale under this proposal. The AIS plan for “translocation”—or how existing teachers shift to the new scale— includes additional steps which may slow down your progression up the teacher pay scale during the life of the proposed CMEA.

In fact, teachers with experience at Band 2 will get a lower rate of pay than new teachers employed in 2025 with the same experience.

The truth is:

We don’t want to delay pay increases, but we will not agree to a substandard deal for our members.

Schools can offer pay increases now OR backpay them later once the MEA is finalised. In fact, some schools are already saying that they will do this.

Even if we had gone with the AIS proposal, this CMEA may not have been ready for a vote this year. We are not holding this up.

This campaign is about fairness for teachers in independent schools.

We need your support for a fair deal by signing our petition.

For more information, please visit our website and other videos.

Thank you for watching.

Say yes to single interest bargaining