For the second time this year more than 50,000 Queensland teachers have walked off the job demanding better pay and conditions.
More than 1000 schools were closed and over half a million students were affected as teachers struck on 25 November and thousands attended rallies in Brisbane and other regional centres.
This is the first time in more than 30 years that Queensland teachers have struck twice in one year.
The strike followed a massive 67 per cent rejection of the government’s “best and final” offer of 8 per cent over three years.
Teachers’ wages have already fallen well behind the cost of living and the government’s latest offer continues this trend.
Teachers also want better conditions to address the enormous stress and burn out rates they face. “Overworked, under-paid, under-valued, over it” read one of numerous home-made placards.
As Solidarity goes to press it looks like the dispute will go to arbitration but the Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) want to narrow the issues to be arbitrated and an initial wage instalment of 3 per cent, first.
The QTU have not ruled out the possibility of a third strike.
As one speaker at the QTU rally in Brisbane said, “It’s time for us to make sure that the government understands that they are not going to just put us into arbitration and all their worries will go away.
“We aren’t going quietly. What they need to do is come to come to the table and deliver.”
By Mark Gillespie
