Staying well: the next phase of the war on workload

The next stage in the QTU’s battle against excessive workload has begun, with the launch of the “Staying Well: Working Together on Workload” campaign.

Launched at the 2017 Biennial Conference, the campaign will aim to ensure that members have the tools they need to control their workload and maintain their personal wellbeing, including mental health and stress levels.

The QTU already produces a range of tools providing members with the information they need to keep their workload within manageable levels (QTU guides, unpacking joint statement brochures, Workload Wednesday Facebook posts, specialised training etc.), but it is also important that they are supported in their use.

That’s why the QTU is developing resources that can be used by members when undertaking a workplace workload health check, promoting the message that “You should never be too busy to talk and take action about workload.”

November 2017 will be the inaugural QTU Workload and Wellbeing Awareness Month (WWAM), as part of which members will be encouraged to look at how they manage workload imposed at a central, regional, workplace and personal level. Union Reps will be asked to conduct meetings at which members can undertake a workplace workload health check, and will work with members on identifying the issues that need to be addressed during 2018, at a local level.

Workplaces and Union Reps will also have access to a workload and wellbeing page on the QTU website. At the same time, the Union will make publications available to members explaining strategies successfully used to address workload in the UK, which have been developed by local teacher union the ATL. At the beginning of 2018, the QTU is aiming to release a workload management pocketbook for members.

What is done at the workplace level will not be lost in 2018. Organisers will be asked to list the matter of workload at each branch and Area Council, and schools will run local campaigns if the issues extend outside the workplace.

The QTU will also work with DET to ensure that the rhetoric they use is converted to action.
As well as workload, the Staying Well campaign will also cover other issues that impact on teachers’ health and wellbeing, including workplace health and safety (keeping workplaces violence free, effective climate control, safe class sizes, online safety), domestic and family violence, safe and supportive working environments for LGBTI members, and physical, psychological and financial health.

Kate Ruttiman                                                                                                                     Deputy General Secretary (Member Services)

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 122 No 5, 21 July 2017, p11