Member Meeting
Your next PSA member meeting will be held Wednesday 3 April 2024. All PSA members are invited to attend via Teams.
Time: 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Date: Wednesday 3 April 2024
Teams Link: Join Meeting Here
Conferences for General and Farm Assistants
On the 12th of March, your General Assistants Advisory Group (GAAG) held its first meeting of the year. The NSW Secretary of Education, Mr Murat Dizdar attended our meeting once again, this time in person.
The main topic of our meeting revolved around the GAAG’s submission to the Secretary regarding the reinstatement of Conferences for General and Farm Assistants. The Secretary was quite impressed with our submission and sought clarification on some points we raised. After much discussion and further explanation, the Secretary agreed to hold four conferences.
The first one will be in the Penrith area on the 9th of July. The other three conferences will be held in Newcastle on the 11th of July, Dubbo on the 16th of July, and Wollongong on the 18th of July, with other outer areas to be scheduled in the future.
A committee consisting of Michael Burrell and Sam Sale from the GAAG, and Georgia Waters from the NSW Department of Education has been established to organise the setup of the conferences. So, keep an eye out for further details.
Pay rise, role description, formula, and face to face training
We also raised other issues with the Secretary, including the four questions that we put to him at our December meeting. These questions were about pay rises, role description updates, GA time allocation (formula), and the reintroduction of face-to-face training for GAs and FAs. He has taken this into consideration for further discussion.
On Monday the 11th of March, we held a meeting with Executive Director Employee Relations, Donna Willcox and Mark Anderson to start the process of updating the role description, which is necessary for our pay raise case. Soon, the GAAG will be asking our members for input into the update.
This has been the most positive step forward for GAs and FAs in a long time. The GAAG has put in countless hours to get things going with the Secretary and his team, and so far, it’s been very positive.
Union Solidarity
The committee also met with representatives from the United Workers Union (UWU) which covers the cleaners in schools and other government establishments. As part of a review of the Cleaning Contract, they are seeking to have the cleaning service brought back under government services. They also explained the current issues they are having and provided examples. They were seeking the GAAG’s support in their fight as they have already gained support from other Unions. A motion was put forward to support them, and the GAAG unanimously agreed.
Working Alone Risk Assessment
With school holidays fast approaching, don’t forget to have your ‘Working Alone Risk Assessment” completed for the school holidays. If unsure, see your principal. Remember, YOUR SAFETY IS A PRIORITY.
Your Delegates
Chairperson
Bill (William) Martin
Ponds School SSP
Vice Chairperson
Michael Burrell
Blacktown Boys High School
Secretary
Hayden Berry
Barramurra Public School
Women’s Officer
Fiona Doherty
Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre
Delegates
Industrial Staff:
Sharny Chalmers – PSA Industrial Officer
Peta Noke – PSA Organiser