Our public school educators will be walking off the job after rejecting a new pay offer.
51.1 percent voted against the state government’s latest proposal in a virtual ballot which closed on Tuesday, July 21st.
According to the Australian Education Union, 50,677 ballots were cast statewide, representing about 90.2 percent of their total membership.
Despite the narrow result, the union’s Victorian branch president, Justin Mullaly says the vote sends an “undeniable message” that the state government must fully fund public schools.
“AEU members have been telling the Victorian Labor Government for years that the under-resourcing of public schools in Victoria is making their work untenable,” Mr Mullaly said in a statement.
“When just 3 in 10 public school teachers plan to stay working in public schools in Victoria, it is obvious there is a problem.”
This is the second pay deal to be rejected by Victoria’s teachers in two months.
Back in June, 58 percent voted down a proposal negotiated by their union and the state government which would have seen them become the highest-paid public education employees in Australia.
Members argued at the time the offer didn’t go far enough in addressing key concerns like workloads.
The latest proposal was put forward last week in what some viewed as a last-ditch effort to avoid another statewide strike.
It had wages rising by at least 28.3 percent over four years, and contained a clause seeing the number of required meeting hours halved from 80 hours a year, to 40.
Having now rejected a second deal, teachers will go ahead with this Thursday’s 24-hour stop-work action as previously planned.
While some public schools in Central Victoria will close, a select few are staying open to provide “limited supervision” of children.
