Ipswich Girls' Grammar School staff deserve better!

Support IGGS staff taking protected industrial action (1)

What’s happening at Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School and Ipswich Junior Grammar School?

Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School (IGGS) and Ipswich Junior Grammar School (IJGS) promote that values like respect are at the heart of their school community.

So why aren’t the schools respecting their teachers and support staff and their working conditions?

Instead of listening to staff concerns, the employer is ignoring the voice of employees.

Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School and Ipswich Junior Grammar School staff deserve better!

So do IGGS and IJGS students and parents!

IEU-QNT members are fighting for the future of the IGGS and IJGS school community.

The current employer position puts at risk attracting and retaining high-quality teachers for IGGS and IJGS students, now and into the future.

Members take stop-work action

Teachers and school support staff at Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School (IGGS) and Ipswich Junior Grammar School (IJGS) took strike action today (Tuesday, 4 June 2024) for three (3) hours between 11:55am until 2:55pm.

Read our latest news story here: IGGS & IJGS make history in first school strike.

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Show your support – send IGGS and IJGS staff a solidarity message

Read the messages of support by clicking on the image

What action are IGGS and IJGS staff taking?

Teachers and school support staff at Ipswich Girls Grammar School (IGGS) and Ipswich Junior Grammar School (IJGS) will stop work on Tuesday, 4 June from 11:55am until 2:55pm.

It’s the first instance of strike action by employees since the school opened in 1892 and comes as staff continue their campaign for better working conditions.

Taking any form of protected industrial action is always a last resort for IEU members but it seems this is the only way to get their message across to this employer.

The strike action comes after IEU-QNT members at IGGS and IJGS began their first tranche of protected industrial actions on Monday, 20 May 2024, which included:

not attending staff meetings (except those related to staff and student safety)
not being available for any work on scheduled breaks; and
explaining (orally or in writing) why union members are taking protected industrial action in communications with any person while working on a school site.

The IGGS/IJGS employer’s response to IEU-QNT members taking these low-level actions – including simply taking their lunch break – was to dock their pay.

These are the kinds of tactics big businesses employ against their workers – not what we expect to see a school employer doing to their staff in our sector.

What are IGGS/IJGS staff asking for?

The unprecedented action by IGGS/IJGS school staff is due to their employer’s failure to address key employee issues during negotiations for a replacement collective agreement.

Instead of listening to staff, the employer has sought to silence the voice of employees by going to ballot twice offering staff wages and working conditions that are subpar.

In both cases, employees have strongly rejected the employer’s proposal.

The employer has also sought to restrain IGGS/IJGS employees’ right to a ballot on endorsing protected actions in support of their claims, but this was rejected by the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

It is clear the employer is not interested in listening to the concerns of their staff when it comes to key employees key claims for:

A Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) payment, which has already been paid to staff in the Queensland Catholic and State sectors;
A new automatic step for experienced teachers, which is available to both Catholic and State school teachers. Currently, the top pay step at IGGS is difficult to obtain due to the significant workload barrier associated with completing the eligibility project.
Flexible access to leave, which is avaiable to other staff employed at other schools locally.

Wage comparison – why are IGGS/IJGS staff paid less?