Teachers in Queensland, Australia are facing almost five months of reduced pay as a “disciplinary measure” for refusing to be “vaccinated” against Covid.
The move was announced in a letter signed by Education Department assistant director-general Anne Crowley which was emailed to teachers and other school staff on Monday.
In December 2021 Queensland mandated covid “vaccines” for all teachers and those who refused to comply were suspended without pay and “investigated”.
That mandate was reversed in June this year but now teachers returning to work face an additional 18 weeks of pay reduction.
So having already gone through months of suspension without pay, the teachers now face further punitive measures for refusing to comply with a rule that isn’t even in place anymore.
Sky News reports: The decision was announced in a letter penned by Education Department Assistant Director General Anne Crowley which was emailed to staff on Monday.
The four-page letter said the department had initially proposed a 20 week pay cut but had settled on an incremental reduction over 18 weeks, reported The Courier Mail.
The Department said it had “lost trust” in the teachers and claimed they had “acted inappropriately” by ignoring the public health advice.
“I have considered very carefully your response. However there is nothing in the submissions made by you that lead me to consider the imposition if a disciplinary action is not a reasonably appropriate and proportionate outcome,” Ms Crowley said.
“However, you will notice that the disciplinary action I have determined to impose is lesser than that proposed.
“Your conduct in failing to comply with the direction posed a risk to the health and safety of your co-workers, students and members of the public which was mitigated only by the steps taken by the department to suspend you from duty.”
The Queensland Department of Education told SkyNews.com.au the disciplinary measure would involve a small-scale temporary reduction of $25 to $90 per week before tax.
This is not an uncommon penalty to result from a disciplinary process,” it said.
“The department is currently finalizing disciplinary processes against approximately 900 school staff (including teachers, teacher aides, admin staff, cleaners, schools officers, etc.) who were non-compliant with the lawful direction from their employer enforcing the Chief Health Officer’s Direction to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
“Staff subject to disciplinary processes have received individual consideration of their circumstances, and decisions about appropriate disciplinary penalties have been made.”