Kicking goals for gender equality

The huge improvement between the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China and the current one taking place in Australia and New Zealand can be put down to collective bargaining, Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) CoChief Executive Kate Gill said.

Speaking to IEU journalist Sue Osborne on the morning after the Australia’s win against Canada, the former Matilda was over the moon not only about her team’s result, but the huge crowds and high profile media coverage being garnered by the women’s event.

“It’s a massive, massive difference. In China there was no real media coverage. There were different conditions around how the players were treated. There is a welcome and distinct difference compared to what the players have now,” Gill said.

“We in the women’s game always knew the potential was there. The US has always been a leader in the way it has professionalised the game both domestically and on an international scale.

“In Australia it’s been down to collective bargaining and the ability for the players to determine how they should be treated.

teacher salaries from $90K–$129K by 2026. Queensland teachers have achieved similar outcomes. The notion that you can rebuild a profession without the foundations being securely in place is illogical.

Attracting and retaining the existing workforce in NSW hinges on achieving pay outcomes which are comparable to the outcomes in the ACT and Queensland.

Members are contacting the Premier and Education Minister directly by email to signal their disaffection. School communities across NSW deserve better.

The way forward entails restoring the agreement and prioritising the wellbeing of schools.

Schools thrive on certainty and predictability. Put simply, staffing underpins the operation of every school. The IEU calls upon the Premier to “take teacher pay seriously”!

At time of publication, the IEU Executive had passed the following motion:

“Executive notes that negotiations on teacher pay are continuing between the NSW Teachers Federation and NSW Government. This Executive authorises the Secretary to implement protected action should the dispute not be resolved by Friday, 18 August.

“In the meantime, all members are urged to show their support for the campaign by sending a photo of their IEU Chapter urging their local MP to resolve the dispute on teacher pay. IEU will endeavour to get maximum publicity for these actions.”

Mark Northam Secretary

“We’re moving from this notion of gratitude, to being a worker, with labour rights. These rights need to be protected and you need to be able to negotiate and improve conditions. Collective bargaining has played a huge role in getting the Matildas to where they are now.”

Continued on p5