Union prepares for further industrial action over pay dispute in term 2
Teachers at Victorian public schools are preparing for more strike action as they continue to battle the state government for better pay and working conditions.
The proposal presented to educators is that classrooms will be closed for half-day strikes when schools return for the second term after the Easter school holidays. But some members of the Australian Education Union (AEU) want to go further and stage a repeat of last month’s statewide walkout, which brought 34,500 teachers, principals and support workers to the streets of Melbourne on March 24 in a mass protest.
As schools in Victoria prepare to close their doors on Thursday for the two-week Easter break, the state government said on Wednesday it wanted to continue pay talks with the AEU throughout the holidays.
However, the two sides are far apart due to the AEU making demands. 35 percent salary increase for three years and the government is offering 17 percent with a 1.5 percent overtime allowance.
An AEU council of 120 workplace delegates from primary and secondary schools across Victoria has authorized a rolling strike and no-work campaign against schools after returning from the Easter break unless the government comes up with an acceptable offer.
The new strikes would affect one of the state’s 17 school districts (which range in size from 50 to 150 schools and serve 9,000 to 75,000 students), but the union has not announced where or when the cuts will begin.
Teachers will also refuse to attend meetings or respond to emails from the Department for Education and will ban parents from commenting on term report cards.
AEU state branch president Justin Mullaly, who presented the proposal to the representative council, said the union had no choice but to step up its industrial action.
“The Allan government’s failure to properly value and respect the work of AEU members and its continued failure to properly fund Victorian public schools means there is no alternative but to ensure actions are put in place to further escalate our campaign,” Mullaly wrote in his motion to council.
But some union members want to go further. Encouraged by the success of last month’s strike, teachers in some schools are pushing for a complete ban on report making as well as 24-hour strikes in Term 2.
The educators’ attempt to get the council to vote for tougher action failed, but they did not give up and wrote in a follow-up motion that the mood in some staff rooms had become more militant.
“Limiting our industrial campaign to work bans and half-day regional strikes will not be as effective as the 24-hour statewide strike we held on March 24,” unionists wrote.
“Schools that have passed motions supporting a minimum 24-hour stop include Keilor Downs College, Virtual School Victoria, Fitzroy High School, The Pavilion and more.
“There is an appetite for serious escalation.”
Education Minister Ben Carroll said Wednesday that ministry officials were working hard to find a solution that would eliminate the need for more strikes.
“Unions and the Department for Education are meeting three times this week, including an all-day meeting,” the minister said.
“I made it clear to the union that I wanted to continue negotiations during the school holidays.
“We are extremely committed to getting a good, fair deal for what I consider to be the best teachers in the country.”
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