50k strike over ‘chronic’ teacher shortage, pay conditions

Yesterday (6 August), over 50,000 Queensland Teachers Union members took to the streets in protest of the apparent negligence of the Crisafulli government towards the teacher shortage across the state.

Statewide issues were slated as the driver for the 50,000-strong teacher strike, which has served as a major wake-up call for the Crisafulli government – being the first strike action that state school teachers have taken since 2009.

According to the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU), 50,000 members took part, striking without pay in hopes of forcing the Queensland government to reconsider its most recent pay offer that would “place members at the bottom end of the Australian pay scale in three years”.

“We can’t let more teachers and school leaders walk out the door. We have to attract and retain our educators. Today is a day to remind everyone how important our state schools are,” said QTU president Cresta Richardson.

“Our members have voted unanimously to send this government a clear message. We are united and dedicated to turning around the exodus of burned-out teachers and school leaders from our schools. Our students and school communities need the government to do its job.”

The union claimed that two offers from the government have thus far been rejected as they “did not meet the interest of members”.

Despite a large congregation forming in Brisbane for the strike, the union claimed that the issues persisted statewide, with members in communities right across Queensland joining in.

“Our issues are really statewide, rural and remote and in the city – chronic shortages of teachers, increased workload as a result, soaring occupational violence, and serious issues that require statewide attention,” said Richardson.

The union asserted that they would rely on “genuine” and “reasonable” claims to deliver their case to the Industrial Relations Commission to begin conciliation with the government – putting the ball in Crisafulli’s court to keep schools full with teachers.

“We have prepared a detailed case for the commission, highlighting what’s going on in our schools and where we are headed. Our claims are reasonable and genuine, and we believe the independent commissioner will see that.

“We’ll see that long-overdue federal funding coming into our state schools shortly, money and resources our schools have gone without for too long. The federal government’s done its job, now it’s time for the Crisafulli government to ensure we have the staff needed in classrooms,” said Richardson.