Teachers agree on interim pay deal

ADELAIDE— South Australian public school and TAFE teachers have been awarded a 3.75% interim pay rise by the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) — the first pay rise for SA teachers in 16 months.

In October, the Australian Education Union (AEU) lodged a claim with the IRC for a 7% interim pay rise — part of an overall 21% claim over three years.

While teachers will get an extra 3.75% a year, this will be mostly gobbled up by inflation, which last quarter was 3.7%.

State president of the AEU Correna Haythorpe told the ABC on February 9 that the union welcomed the interim deal but would continue the campaign for workplace rights.

"This will allow them to keep up the fight with the state Government because it's about many more issues than just salary", Haythorpe said.

Teachers will continue to campaign for a full wage increase and against the state government's proposed funding model, which will mean schools are funded by number of students as opposed to the staff-to-student model currently in place.

From GLW issue 784