Hundreds of Queensland teachers protested on November 13 outside Parliament about the Liberal National Party’s failure to come up with a decent pay and conditions offer.
A majority (67%) of the 50,000-strong Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) voted against the LNP’s latest offer of 8% over three years on October 31. The below-inflation offer also failed to address teachers’ concerns over staffing.
The QTU sent in a delegation to try and talk with education minister John-Paul Langbroek but nobody from the minister’s office was available.
Teachers outside issued a report card on a range of issues, including salaries, supportive workplaces and student-to-teacher ratios — the government failed on every measure.
The rally was called in place of a previously announced 24-hour strike, which was controversially called off to avoid strike action during senior exams.
[More photos are available on the Green Left Facebook page.]