Expand actions to improve collective labor agreement for secondary education
The actions for a new CLA for secondary education with more salary and less workload will be expanded. On 31 May, a demonstration will take place at the general meeting of members of the employers' organization VO-council in Driebergen-Zeist. Are you in the occasion? Then come to the Antropia conference center from 11.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. that day.
Picture: Type tank
It is important that we can be seen and heard there with as many colleagues as possible. So come and demonstrate on May 31. Would you like to register or would you like more information? Mail to: rayon.northwest @aob. Nl The unions previously argued on March 29 action in Nieuwegein at the conference of the VO council. We explain why it is important that we take action.
Why is it important that we take action now?
The secondary education is under pressure. We see, for example in the recent Education Report of the Inspectorate, that the results of Dutch education are declining internationally. This is not due to the efforts of our colleagues who work hard every day, but because the work pressure is so high that it is at the expense of the quality of education. Because teachers are not given the resources and space to do their work well. So take action: for yourself, for your colleagues, for good education and ultimately for your students!
Why do the unions want 20 lessons, that is not feasible, is it?
Dutch teachers give much more lessons than colleagues in other Western countries, the VO council and politicians also know that. It is one of the causes of the workload. That is why we want to reduce the teaching task to 20 hours, the European average. We understand that this cannot be done in one go, but we want steps to be taken during this cabinet term. By the way, there are already schools where a lesson task of 23 or even 22 hours is the norm. So it is possible.
If we are going to teach for 20 hours, will not many extra teachers be needed? Are there any?
Many young colleagues quit within five years, and many colleagues also suffer from burnout complaints. And that is mainly due to the enormous workload. If we reduce the workload, the profession will become more attractive. And if we don't do anything about the workload, it will only become more difficult to find new teachers.
Why do the unions want smaller classes?
In recent years the classes in secondary education have become increasingly larger, it is no coincidence that 'drop class' has become the word of the year. Appropriate education also increases the problems of students in the classroom. Everyone wants teachers to be able to offer customization. Policymakers, parents and ourselves like to have an eye for all students. That is not possible if you have ten to twelve different classes of thirty students every week.
What do the unions do for the education support staff (oop)?
The workload has also increased at oop in recent years. Tasks are getting more complex, but the pay has not gone up. We want more appreciation of the oop's functions.
The VO council is calling on its supporters to unilaterally pay out a 1 percent salary increase from 2,35 June, is that possible?
Whether boards will actually do that is their individual choice - it will differ per board. That means that it depends on your board whether payment will be made. In any case, we demand a salary increase for the entire sector. And our requirement is higher than 2,35 percent.
Why do the unions want to record the agreements about the workload in the collective labor agreement?
The employers do not want to make central agreements about the management of the workload. They want to arrange this per school, for example in individual conversations between teachers and their supervisors. In practice, the manager has the final say: a teacher's wish can be granted or not. We want to set a lower limit of rights in the collective labor agreement, so that as a teacher you can simply enforce your rights if necessary. Such a lower limit also prevents the employment conditions at different schools from divergence too much.
