Employers should not be removing teachers’ desks and chairs from classrooms without the appropriate consultation and agreement of teachers and consideration of workplace health and safety risks.
IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said increasing reports of teachers arriving in classrooms to find teacher desks and chairs replaced by ‘teacher pods’ or ‘stations’ has been raised by a number of School Chapter Representatives.
In some cases, the classroom teachers’ chairs and desks have simply been removed altogether with nothing to replace them.
“This is indicative of these employers’ lack of respect for teachers’ professional autonomy – desks and chairs are essential tools and spaces for many teachers; their forced removal should be challenged by IEU School Chapters with the support of our union,” he said.
