State and Catholic public school teachers are set to stage a historic 24-hour joint strike on June 30 as anger escalates across the profession over staff shortages. ‘increased workload and salary.
It has been more than two decades since the NSW Federation of Teachers and the Australian Independent Education Union took joint action, which unions say is a direct result of the “manifest failure” of the state government and Catholic employers. to deal with teaching. crisis.
School teachers march on Macquarie Street in May. Credit: Jenny Evans / Getty Images
“This action speaks of the crisis we are in,” said the president of the federation, Angelo Gavrielatos. “Hundreds of classes every day and thousands and thousands of students are denied their education and their future.”
It will be the third time that state public school teachers have voted in favor of the strike in just over six months, and the second time that NSW and ACT Catholic diocesan schools have voted in favor of industrial action this year. . Together, unions make up more than three-quarters of the state’s teaching staff.
Thousands of members from across Sydney and regional locations in both states will gather on Macquarie Street on June 30.
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Negotiations on a company agreement are at a standstill, with the federation calling for a 5% annual salary increase with an additional 2.5% to recognize the additional experience, as well as two more hours of planning a week.
“Both unions have come to the conclusion that the government has its head in the sand when it comes to the teacher crisis,” Gavrielatos said. “The government is trying to silence teachers and principals about the impact of vacancies on their school communities.”
Gavrielatos said the NSW budget did not address the paralyzing workloads, and acting with uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads was the only way to stop more teachers from leaving and attracting people to the profession.