HUNTER Catholic schools office staff will walk off the job on Thursday for an hour after efforts to strike a salary deal with the diocese stuttered.
The Independent Education Union on Wednesday night, June 5, declared members would rally in Wickham Park before marching to the Catholic Schools office.
It said staff covered by the enterprise agreement had long received the same pay increases as teachers and support staff in the system's schools.
The sticking point was a diocese offer of 3 per cent instead of the 8 per cent increase awarded to school teachers in October, the union said.
"The employer's failure to match pay rises in CSO schools is a disappointing departure from the long-accepted practice of employees in the CSO receiving the same increases as teachers working in schools," IEUA NSW/ACT branch assistant secretary Amanda Hioe said in a statement.
The union argues salaries for school-based psychologists and counsellors were far behind those in government schools, "meaning the diocese will struggle to retain this critical resource".
Workers voted to stop work in a ballot released on May 24, with 99 per cent of members backing the industrial action.
"Employers heard the voice of teachers last year," Ms Hioe said. "Now it's time for them to hear the voice of the CSO staff too."
The union represents over 32,000 educators.
