On February 14, at least 10,000 striking government school teachers rallied in the Vodafone Arena in the Melbourne Park complex in the largest stop-work meeting in the history of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union.
The mood at the rally was angry and determined. Since November 2007, 5200 public school teachers have joined the AEU because they want a turnaround in their pay and conditions.
Victorian AEU branch president Mary Bluett told the rally she had received many letters and emails of support from parents. Over the past month, the city's daily newspapers have been full of letters and even editorials supporting the teachers' campaign. The Victorian Independent Teachers Union (which covers private school teachers) sent a strong message of support to the rally, as did several other unions.
The February 14 Melbourne Age reported that at least "25,000 teachers across Victoria walked off the job today as the stalemate continues in wage talks with the state government", closing 120 schools completely. Victorian public school teachers have received no pay increase since October 2006, leaving them the lowest paid in Australia.
The teachers' previous pay and conditions agreement expired last August and, despite nine months of negotiations, the state Labor government has rigidly struck to its offer of a 3.25% pay increase, provided the teachers accept "trade-offs" such as cuts in paid holidays. Victorian public school teachers earn 15% less than their counterparts in NSW.
About 19% of Victoria's 39,000 public school teachers are employed on short-term contracts. Contract teaching employment, the low pay levels and highly stressful working conditions have produced a growing teacher shortage.
"We've got 40% of secondary schools saying they're only covering the shortage by having teachers teach outside their area of qualification", Bluett told media reporters at the stop-work rally. "Some secondary schools have had to drop certain subjects from their curriculum. And they are leaving for other states or territories, or independent schools, for the higher pay."
While the Victorian government has a $842 million budget surplus, it spends the least per student on public education of any state government in Australia. Catherine Deveny, a parent invited to address the stop-work rally, thanked the teachers for striking. "Pay peanuts, get more strikes", she
suggested should be teachers' motto.
Bluett said that Premier John Brumby's latest stalling tactic was to negotiate "through the media". Instead of talking seriously to the union, the government had put out exaggerated claims about the cost of paying teachers more.
The teachers want, among other things, an annual 10% pay rise a year, smaller class sizes and fewer teachers on contract employment. A resolution to continue the campaign for an agreement meeting these claims through rolling half-day stoppages received overwhelming support from those at the stop-work meeting. Those teachers who voted against the resolution favoured full-day strikes.
During debate on the resolution, Michael O'Reilly, a teacher at Mill Park Secondary College and a member of the dopposition wit Teachers Alliance group within the union, spoke in support of the resolution but urged AEU members to stay firm until a decent offer had been received from the government.
He reminded the striking teachers that their campaign was for more than a pay rise, pointing to other matters raised in the teacher's log of claims — including the demand for class sizes of 20 students; reduction of primary school direct teaching time to 21.45 hours a week and 18 hours for secondary teachers; a reduction in contract teaching; time release for beginning teachers and their mentors; and 14 weeks of paid maternity leave. Many teachers at the rally applauded as each of these items were listed by O'Reilly. The mass media and the AEU Leadership have focused almost exclusively on the wage claim.
While the AEU leadership mentioned the deplorable salary and contract levels and the woeful response of the Brumby government, it must take some of the responsibility for the situation. Bluett has been president of the Victorian AEU branch since 1998, and her leadership team has acquiesced in the Labor government's erosion of salary levels, working conditions and school budgets year after year. They have been prepared to recommend and sign off on deals that have sealed these setbacks.
This was another reason why O'Reilly's speech was applauded. Many older teachers know not to rely on the current AEU leadership to secure improvements that will turn around the crisis in Victorian public schools.
[Mary Merkenich is a Victorian AEU state councillor and member of Teachers Alliance, which can be contacted at