The agreement, put forward by Catholic education employers, would prevent teachers and support staff from accessing the Fair Work Commission to resolve disputes through arbitration. 

Arbitration involves the Fair Work Commission determining the results of a dispute that can’t be resolved in-house or through mediation. 

Marion College’s Esther Dumbleton said the result felt like teachers were “finally at the negotiating table”. 

“There was an 88 per cent vote against the agreement. It was fantastic,” she said. 

“The vote means the Catholic employer will have to enter into negotiations with employees. It’s a great start.”

Staff stopped work for four hours last week, attending rallies around NSW and the ACT after Catholic employers put the agreement to a vote without first approaching the union for endorsement.

An IEU spokeswoman said Catholic employers were now entering into negotiations with teachers. ​

Executive Director of the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations (CCER), Tony Farley, said the union has clearly convinced school staff, who ultimately determine whether or not an agreement is is accepted. 

“Staff have been persuaded by the IEU’s campaign about the disputes clause and associated issues around workload and we’ll continue the negotiations with the benefit of that information,” he said. 

“What we are hearing is that what the union and staff supported this year in 450 independent schools in terms of managing disputes and workloads is not what they want to see in Catholic schools.”

Mr Farley said the CCER was still committed to giving staff promised back-pay. 

“We’re still very keen to get the back pay and further increases to staff as soon as possible and I’ll be meeting with the union this week to see how we can make that happen.” Mr Farley said.

Independent Education Union (IEU) representative and organiser of the Griffith rally Lyn Caton was pleased with the outcome.  

“It certainly conveyed the message to our employers that we were unhappy with the way things were going. It was never about the pay. We were concerned about access to the Fair Work Commission and arbitration,” she said. 

“Wagga diocese was first to announce at lunch time today that all school employees will be receiving back-pay for 2017 in the last pay period of this year,” she said. 

“That was a wonderful concession on their behalf. It is appreciated and we to acknowledge and thank them for that.”