Teacher strikes affect schools to close

Schools and Colleges Close due to Teachers Strike

Teachers have downed their tools, driving schools to an early close or open late.

Hundreds of teachers joined other fellow public sector workers to a stop-work rally in Hobart’s City Hall and Launceston, Burnie in Tasmania State in Australia. The workers included parks officers, firefighters, wildlife officers and nurses.

Teachers Strike in Tasmania, the 26^th world’s largest island, has forced most to schools to close early or open late.

This followed the Australian Education Union’s (AEU) rejecting the state’s latest pay offer. The state had offered a pay rise of 7 per cent spread across three years.

The teachers rejected the offer saying the Government had ignored the working conditions and workload distress.

With about 5,600 members across the Tasmania, more than 196 schools, state’s TAFEs and colleges have closed due to the heat from the strike.

The country’s public sector workers’ unions have been enduring a pay and conditions dispute with the state Government.

Peta-Maree Revell, one of the teachers at the Stop-work rally was quoted saying that their major concern was the lack of resources and inadequate funding in schools.

In Launceston’s rally, the teachers demanded the Government to improve the school conditions.

The teachers were supported by Health and Community Services Union (HCSU) who disapproved the government’s 7 per cent pay increase. They

The Tasmanian Government, through its Treasurer Peter Gutwein, stated that they would not go past the 7 percent pay rise offer. He defended their move on the drop in the national GST revenue pool. He said, the drop would amount to about $40 million from the forecasted. He advised the teachers’ union members to make their decision through secret ballot and call off any further action.