Arabic version: معلمو فيكتوريا يعلنون إضراباً على مستوى الولاية لمدة 24 ساعة في 23 يوليو
Victorian public school teachers will hold a 24-hour statewide strike on July 23 after negotiations with the state government reached an impasse.
According to ABC News, Australian Education Union Victorian branch members resolved to take stop-work action and implement a ban on unpaid overtime next Thursday, with AEU Victorian branch president Justin Mullaly citing excessive workloads and underfunding. “The Allan Labor government is purposefully denying at least $2.4 billion in funding for Victorian public schools,” he said. “In this underfunded system, teachers, principals, and education support staff are working an average of 12 hours unpaid overtime every week.”
A Victorian government spokesman urged the AEU to return to negotiations to prevent statewide disruptions to families. “This deal, which was endorsed by the AEU leadership, would have made Victorian teachers the best paid in the country together with the best conditions,” the government spokesman said. “We will always back our hardworking teachers, school leaders and education support staff. We call on the Australian Education Union to end its planned industrial action that will disrupt families across Victoria and continue negotiating in good faith.”
Negotiations had previously produced an in-principle agreement announced in May that offered pay rises of between 28 and 32 per cent over four years and more student-free days, but in June teachers went against AEU advice and voted down a pay rise of up to 32 per cent.
Teachers and supporters staged statewide strike action in March, marching to parliament in central Melbourne, with police estimating about 35,000 people were in attendance. That March strike was the first of its kind since 2013, when statewide industrial action occurred during negotiations with the Baillieu Coalition government.
This matters to readers because the dispute concerns school funding levels, staff workloads and retention: the union says Victorian public schools are the lowest funded in the country and reports that just three in 10 employees expect to remain working in public schools until retirement. The government has warned the strike will disrupt families and urged further negotiation to avoid statewide impacts.
What happens next: the Victorian government has called on the AEU to call off the strike and return to the negotiating table to prevent statewide disruptions to families.
Related sections: Australia/استراليا | Victoria | General | Social/إجتماعية
