Mary Bluett (born 12 March 1951) is an Australian trade unionist and the former president of the Victorian branch of the

Australian Education Union The Australian Education Union (AEU) is an Australian trade union, founded in 1984 as the Australian Teachers Union, which is registered with Fair Work Australia as an employee group, and is affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Union ...

(AEU). In 1974, Bluett became a branch representative of the

Victorian Secondary Teachers Association The Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (VSTA) was a Victorian trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the cond ...

(VSTA). The next year, she became a member of the VSTA's Central Committee. In 1982, she became the vice president of the VSTA, before being elected as the president of the VSTA in 1994. The VSTA ultimately merged with two other Victorian teachers unions to become the Victorian branch of the AEU. Bluett became the Victorian AEU's first vice president. She became the president of the AEU's Victorian Branch in 1998. On 19 July 2012,

Fair Work Australia The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the ''Fair Work Act 2009'' as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australia ...

allowed the AEU to ballot teachers' aides and other support staff as to whether they would join a planned strike in September 2012 surrounding pay claims by the government of

Ted Baillieu Edward Norman Baillieu (born 31 July 1953) is a former Australian politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2010 to 2013. He was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1999 to 2014, representing the electorate of ...

. Bluett called the decision historic, saying that "we have negotiated in the case of teachers for over nine months, and it's not unreasonable to take the action that we're forced to". The ballot passed with over 97% approval, with Bluett remarking that "education support staff remain the lowest paid in Victorian schools and receive little or no recognition of their skills, experience and the crucial role they play". The planned strike took place on 5 September 2012, where Bluett said that negotiations with the

Victorian government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

broke down on 9 April, and called a proposed 2.5% pay rise insulting. She also said that government proposals included deliberately provocative ideas such as sacking the bottom five percent of teachers and making teachers undergo

professional development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning Informal learning is characterized "by a low degree of planning and ...

during school holidays, among other things. 6 days later, Bluett announced her intent to step down as AEU Victoria president on 31 December 2012, the end of her term, saying that "the union has grown enormously in strength, which is something I'm really proud of".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bluett, Mary Women trade union leaders 1951 births Living people People from New South Wales Australian women trade unionists 20th-century births