School staff accept pay increases

Thousands of PSA members from NSW government schools today accepted a Department of Education and Training offer of new career structures and pay rises ranging from 5.7% to 7.4%. The offer also includes an increase in staff numbers.

The increased expenditure on extra staff and pay rises will be 100 percent funded by Treasury.

The pay rises are for changes in work value. These school staff will also receive general increases arising from public sector pay cases - the PSA is working on the next general pay case now.

The offer applies to School Assistants and Senior School Assistants. These classifications include staff working in administration, science laboratories, technology & applied science classrooms, home economics classrooms and in libraries.

Over 90 percent of those at the meetings throughout the state voted in favour of the package.

There were 170 meeting venues across the state. Members were addressed via Sky Channel by PSA President Sue Walsh, General Secretary John Cahill, and Assistant General Secretary Steve Turner.

88 percent of the staff in these classifications attended the PSA meetings. "This is a huge turnout, a record turnout", said Steve Turner.

The offer is an interim one. It arose from a review of the School Assistants and Senior Schools Assistants' jobs following PSA pressure on the issues of workloads and work value. The review found these staff were very much underpaid. The offer goes part of the way to meet the review findings.

Negotiations between the Public Service Association and the Department of Education & Training will immediately begin dealing with the implementation of the new scale and pay rates which take effect from July 1. Further negotiations on the rest of the review findings will also commence.

Further items:
Speeches presented on the Sky Channel broadcast
Frequently Asked Questions on the Offer
SAS Staff Review - DET's "without prejudice" Offer