AObmembers welcome participation in the division of labor in primary education
A large majority of 84 percent of the members in primary education want to make agreements as a team about the division of labor. This is evident from last week's poll. No voters are especially concerned about their individual rights. "We are going to take that into account," says AObnegotiator Eugenie Stolk. Salary and job classification are now on the agenda in collective bargaining.
Picture: Type tank
Every week the unions meet with the employers' organization PO-raad about the collective labor agreement. In the coming weeks it will be about the job structure and salary. "In terms of salary, we are looking at how we can distribute the extra 270 million euros for teacher salaries as well and fairly as possible," explains Eugenie Stolk, daily director of primary education at the AOb out. "We know all too well that it is not enough to close the gap with secondary education. We are campaigning to change that. But we do want this amount to reach the people as soon as possible!"
In addition, the AOb about the 'normal' wage increase. "The unions demand 3,5 percent for 2018. And that applies to all teaching staff." The aim is to reach a negotiated agreement on the most important parts of the collective labor agreement before the summer. Stolk: "In June we hope to hold meetings about the agreement in the country. If we ask the members and the AObsector council primary education a 'go' salary increases can take place with retroactive effect from 1 August."
About the division of labor policy in the collective labor agreement, the AOb last week's opinion of the members. 575 people responded to that. "It is a new tool for all of us to conduct a survey in between. We do this because we think it is important to involve the supporters as widely as possible in progress," says Stolk about that step. The core of the thoughts at the collective bargaining table is that the team a leading role gets in determining the division of labor.
Poll result: majority in favor
Do you agree with the agreement that the team takes the lead in drawing up the division of labor plan in the school and that the professional space is used?
| Ja | 84 percent |
| No | 13 percent |
| No opinion | 3 percent |
Do you agree with the direction in which the social partners want to make agreements about how the work at the school is divided?
| Ja | 72 percent |
| No | 17 percent |
| No opinion | 12 percent |
Satisfied
"The team in position, the professional dialogue at the heart of the school, the commitment that we as AOb already established in November, was embraced by the yes voters," is the satisfied reaction of the AOb-Director. In the comments and suggestions, one of the members underlined this positive choice as follows: 'I will experience more autonomy and that improves my job satisfaction. The management of the school is given a more serving role.'
'I will experience more autonomy and that improves my job satisfaction. The management of the school will take on a more serving role,' writes one AObmember in the poll
Another wrote: 'too many people are involved in education, leave it to the creativity of the team how they want to work.' And another: 'Good signal that as a teacher you can/must start thinking about your own work situation again. Makes you feel like you need to be taken seriously again. Engagement can only motivate. I have seriously missed that for the last 20 years.'
People find it important that the team really takes its role, say AObnegotiators Stolk and Anton Bodegraven. But the members do want clarity and support from the council on more points AOb. 'Please provide solid information from the AOb for the team so that we know well what our rights/options are', writes a yes-voter with the survey. As with the workload agreement, the AOb certainly do so, by publishing clear guidelines with the collective labor agreement that contain frameworks, information and options for teams to work with a division of labor policy.
No voters
The no voters have many questions, some of which went beyond the questions about the division of labor. 'Do something about the salary first' is a common reaction. Other remarks from no-voters related to policy for the elderly, professionalisation, sustainable employability and extra-statutory benefits. These were not included in the survey, but will be discussed later in the collective labor agreement process, the negotiators assure.
A number of members have questions about how plans for division of labor in the team work out in relation to individual entitlements. "The text in the survey is not yet a written collective labor agreement text. In the elaboration, work is being done on a formulation that provides sufficient protection for the individual employee in the event that there is no question of mutual consent," says
Stolk.
'Good signal that you should start thinking about your own work situation. Makes you feel like you need to be taken seriously again. Engagement can only motivate. I have seriously missed that for the last 20 years,' writes a teacher in the poll
Tuning
The challenge of the agreements also lies in an optimal coordination between the roles of the team, the personnel section of the participation council, school leader and individual employee. Stolk: "At the moment we are having the ideas we have about the division of roles tested by legal experts. We are taking into account all comments made by our members."
If the team cannot come to an agreement, the school leader has to make the decision in the division of work. Many questions were asked about that part. From a legal point of view, the school leader is the employer who can give instructions to an employee. "So if there is no agreement, the school principal is the one who has to make a decision," say Stolk and Bodegraven. "The employee can take steps against this."
40-hour working week
Then there was the much-cursed 40-hour work week. 'Are we now rid of those compulsory return days and compulsory attendance hours at school?' was a common question in the poll. The answer: it's the team's move. "They make choices that they find appropriate for their work and their school. If return days and compulsory attendance at school do not have added value in the eyes of the team, this is not necessary," says the AObdriver about that.
Another point that received many questions was the starting point of 940 teaching hours. "Our commitment is and remains that, as soon as possible, teaching hours in primary education should be adjusted downwards," says Stolk. "Only the focus in this collective labor agreement for 2018 is on the workload resources - which can also be used to reduce teaching hours at school level - and a substantial salary increase."
