Striking teachers on move towards parliament
The crowd is now on the move heading past the State Library in central Melbourne.
Teachers are carrying signs reading “burnout is not part of the curriculum” and “respect our school staff”.
Many are shouting “what do we want? A fair deal.”
Michelle Fabris, a teacher at Blackburn Primary School, joined the rally with her two-year-old son.
“There’s a misconception that we’re just here for a pay rise, but it’s also about conditions for our students and for teachers,” she said.
“It’s about working hours, an increase in teaching time and less funding for students.”
‘We’re losing staff’ due to low pay, education support worker says
Among those taking part in the strike are education support staff, who are disappointed with the 14 per cent pay rise the government has offered.
Erica Ryan, a support staff member at Niddrie Autistic School, near Essendon, said this wasn’t good enough.
She said there was a lack of support, and they had been trying to negotiate for the last two years.
“What upsets me the most is the CFMEU pay rise in the past 18 months, they got more than 20 per cent. They’re offering ES [education support] staff 14 per cent.
“We are overworked and underpaid.”
Niddrie Autistic School has about 160 kids and 100 staff, most of them support staff.
“We are losing staff. We interview people and tell them the wage, and they say ‘no thanks’ because they can earn more in other industries.
“These students need more support than a mainstream classroom, and we need a fair wage for their time.”
There were 18 members of staff from the school on strike today.
“We always put the needs of the children first, [so] some people needed to stay behind and look after the children,” Ryan said.
“That’s where we would rather be, too. But we’re here to represent everyone at our school.”
Catholic school staff show solidarity with striking colleagues
Meanwhile, staff at Catholic schools around Victoria have also shown their support of the public school educators who are on strike.
Staff at Saints College at North Melbourne and St Joseph’s in Mildura have thrown their support behind the stop-work action today.
The Independent Education Union members stood outside their schools in solidarity for their colleagues in the public system.
IEU general secretary David Brear said the union was negotiating a new deal for staff, but Victorian Catholic school teachers were barred from taking part in the kind of industrial action that staff at government schools are taking.
Teachers flood streets with signs reading ‘Overworked! Undervalued’
The corner of Russell and Victoria streets is a sea of red T-shirts as thousands of teachers, parents, students and advocates flood in the city to rally over teachers’ pay.
There are signs reading, “Overworked! Undervalued!” and “teachers are our future”.
Many are also carrying Australian Education Union banners.
Organisers are speaking from a platform in the middle of the intersection, revving the crowd up by shouting, “what do we want? A pay deal! When do we want it? Now!“.
They’re being met with cheers and applause.
In pictures: Sea of red as striking teachers head to CBD
There’s a sea of red as public school teachers, principals and education support staff head into the city as part of their first strike in 13 years.
The Australian Education Union has claimed there are more than 15,000 people already at Trades Hall in Carlton, as they plan to march to parliament.
Check out the gallery below, featuring images from our photographers Joe Armao, Eddie Jim and Ruby Alexander.
Education minister says government did ‘everything’ to avoid strikes
Carroll said the government did everything it could to avoid today’s strike, as teachers gather in Melbourne to march through the city.
Tens of thousands of Victorian government school teachers, principals and education support staff are heading to the Victorian Trades Hall for a rally before they march to parliament.
Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll said the government did “everything” to avoid the 24-hour stop-work action today.
“You’ve got to understand that we did everything we can to avoid today, we did everything we can to get the offer on the table as soon as possible,” he said this morning.
Meetings with AEU continue tomorrow after significant ‘first offer’: Carroll
Staying with the education minister, who has been questioned about the first teacher strike in more than a decade and whether it could have been avoided.
Ben Carroll said the government’s “first offer” was very significant.
“We have done everything we can … there were meetings with the union yesterday and there are meetings with the union tomorrow. I’ve always said to the union, please prioritise making sure that kids go to school, let’s not disrupt them,” he said.
He said the government was doing everything it could to secure an agreement and ensure teachers get the pay conditions they deserved.
‘I hear you, I understand you’, education minister tells striking teachers
Victoria’s Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll was questioned about the strikes at a press conference this morning.
He told reporters the 18.5 per cent pay offer made was a “significant offer”, and it meant $2.6 billion in wages was ready to go.
“I do regret that the union has taken industrial action today,” Carroll said.
“To the teachers taking industrial action, I hear you, I understand you and I thank you for every day pouring yourself into our most vital resource, our school children.”
The minister said he was looking forward to working through the dispute with the union, to reach the best offer the government could provide.
Selective girls’ school still expects ‘productive’ private study
Students at one of four selective-entry government schools in the state were also asked not to attend today, but told they could only be offered supervised private study – as long as they were “productive, collaborative”.
A letter sent to parents of students at the Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School, seen by this masthead, outlined the options available for their children before today’s strike action.
The letter said students could opt out of coming to campus, with no negative repercussions, but that regular classes would be replaced by year-level-based study.
“If you choose to attend, you must attend for the whole day – 8.20am arrival, 8.30am start, 3.04pm finish time,” school principal Sue Harrap wrote.
Kids want to come to school, despite lack of teachers
Some families were dropping their children off at Bentleigh West Primary because their children simply didn’t want to take the day off school, despite the disruptions.
James Evans was dropping off his child Harvey Evans, with friends Winter and Zed Dunlop.
“The main reason is they wanted to come in. They love school so much. They love seeing their friends. Not every kid does, but they do,” he said.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
