A last-minute plea for teachers not to walk out of their classrooms appears set to fall on deaf ears, with tens of thousands of government school educators planning to strike tomorrow.
The Australian Education Union (AEU) remains adamant that its members will push ahead with a 24-hour-stopwork action, the state’s first government schools strike in 13 years, after rejecting what it calls a “totally unacceptable” 18 per cent pay deal.
The state government has today continued to insist that schools will be open on Tuesday, despite some principals advising parents to keep children at home on the day.
Most government schools have told their communities that supervision will be available for the children of emergency workers, by prior arrangement with the schools.
The union says it expects more than 10,000 striking educators to take to the streets of Melbourne and rally outside Parliament House on Spring Street.
But Premier Jacinta Allan said on Monday morning the strike did not need to go ahead.
With all teachers, principals and assistant principals at some schools planning to take part in the industrial action, the government is relying on a strike-breaking workforce of casual relief teachers and retired teachers to fulfil its pledge to keep schools open.
“We’ve got a strong offer on the table,” the premier said.
“The only way to get agreement on that offer is to stay at the negotiating table, and that’s why the leadership of the AEU should really be rethinking this action tomorrow because it’s only really providing inconvenience for families at a time when families have got enough on their plate.”
AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly said the teachers had been “disrespected” by the Allan government, which made its offer a week ago, nine months after talks on a fresh pay and conditions deal began.
“Victorian teachers, principals, and support staff would much rather be in the classroom teaching Victorian students today, but because of the disrespect from the Allan government, they are having to stop work for 24 hours,” Mullaly said.
“If the Allan Labor government really values the work of Victorian teachers, principals, and education support staff, they must come forward with an offer that addresses their real concerns.”
Parents Victoria, the peak group for school families, said it supported “the principle behind the strike” and that the relatively low wages paid to Victorian state school teachers was a serious threat to the quality of education in government schools.
The group’s chief executive, Gail McHardy, said parents were “broadly sympathetic” to the strike, but would still come under pressure juggling work and care on the day.
“[Families] can see the pressure teachers are under but that support is often tempered by concern about disruption to their children,” McHardy said.
“Even among parents who support the action, there’s still the very real challenge of managing the day. Most families will be relying on a mix of options — taking leave, adjusting work arrangements, or leaning on extended family and friends — but that’s not easy to organise at short notice.”
More to come
Nicole Precel is an education reporter at The Age. She was previously an audio video producer. She is also a documentary maker. Get in touch at nicole.precel@theage.com.auConnect via X, Facebook or email.
Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.
