Tyler Redway
MULGA Street Primary School deputy principal Matthew Key has thrown his hat in the ring to be nominated as the next Australian Education Union (AEU) SA Branch president.
This move will put Mr Key in direct competition with incumbent AEU SA Branch president Andrew Gohl.
Mr Key said he always thought this would have been a decision made towards the end of his career and added he decided to take this step after becoming “disillusioned” and “burnt out” by the education industry.
“Recently, I have been talking to a number of trusted people and I have been thinking if not now, then when?” Mr Key said.
“I have always been really passionate about the advocacy and collectivism of unions and the power people have in numbers, but I think in particular being a part of the education workforce for a while, I can feel the tiredness and disillusionment of so many people who are now burning out.
“Instead of sitting in the background and jumping up and down about it, which I have been doing at branch council and different forums, I thought I really needed to put my name forward and put myself in a position as someone who is based at a school at the moment to be willing to come out of that school with the perspective and go in to represent others who are in the same position.”
Mr Key said while he wanted to represent teachers from their perspective, he added there were also decisions made by the current leadership which he did not agree with.
“There have been a lot of calls made which I don’t think have been the right ones and I don’t feel the union is effectively representing what staff on the ground actually want from their union,” he said.
“A lot of the rhetoric which has come out of the union has been talking about bringing back the attraction to country areas, but it’s not looking after our members who are here now.
“We have been talking a lot about housing which is a bit frustrating knowing there is a really clear State Government strategy around housing at the moment and I feel like jumping up and down about this will not cause any more action than what we have already seen.”
Mr Key said he would like to see members of the AEU spending more time in schools as he felt there was a “big disconnect” between schools and the union.
“So much of the work is done out of the building in Adelaide, but it seems like there is a big disconnect from the realities in the classroom,” he said.
“I do think considering the union should be made up of educators that we should be ensuring those elected people are in classrooms at least for a week a year, or more to be able to understand first-hand the impact of decisions and policies coming through from the government so they can better place themselves when making those decisions.
“I am lucky at the moment where I am now in the position as a deputy principal to a school and so in this role, I do support and teach in classrooms but I also work alongside SSOs, teachers and the kindergarten on site as well.”
Mr Key said he aimed to build the trust of the AEU again as he felt the declining membership had an impact on the effect the union could have on government decisions.
He said it was important for the AEU to use elements from all members as he believed everyone in the role had some form of helpful knowledge to share.
“Working collaboratively as a team is important, there is a whole range of knowledge across our membership and a lot of combined experience of union members which is not being capitalised at the moment,” he said.
“It’s about having the vision to bring the union back to being a representative body which works first and foremost in the best interests of members.”
Mr Key said even if he was not successful in becoming the next president of the AEU SA Branch, he would still continue in a job which he truly enjoyed.
“I would definitely continue to be an activist in the union, particularly through the branch council, but more importantly I would be able to continue doing the important work at my school at the moment,” Mr Key said.
“My contract continues on so I will potentially be looking at stepping away from my job in order to do this work but if I am not successful then I still get to do a job I love.”
