Australian Education Union SA branch says members may strike on September 1

Teachers in SA could soon walk off the job after a new offer was slammed by the union amid increasingly tense negotiations.

Teachers will consider strike action next month if the state government does not improve its offer in increasingly tense negotiations over pay and conditions.

The Australian Education Union SA branch has been negotiating with government since the start of the year on a new enterprise bargaining agreement.

It wants pay increases for public educators of up between 5.5 and 8.6 per cent a year and $1bn in extra classroom support to ease workload pressures and manage children with complex needs.

AEU SA branch president Andrew Gohl said the government made an offer this week, including a 3 per cent pay rise, which was “insulting”, “offensive” and “demeaning”.

The union will now ask members to vote on whether to strike for a full day on September 1, unless “an acceptable offer is received” by Monday, August 28.

Voting will open on Friday, August 18, and close on Friday August 25.

Australian Education Union SA branch president Andrew Gohl says teachers will consider strike action if the state government does not improve its offer in enterprise bargaining negotiations. Picture: LinkedIn

Mr Gohl said he understood a strike would be “inconvenient” for parents but urged them to “keep a view of the longer term”.

“I’d say to parents we’re fighting for your kids’ learning,” he said.

“The Premier may talk about the cost to taxpayers, but when he can find $2bn to build submarines and $450m for a university merger nobody asked for, how can he put a price on your child’s future?”

When asked how likely it was that teachers would vote to strike, Mr Gohl said taking an unpaid day for industrial action “for some people is a really difficult financial decision” but that feedback from among the AEU’s 12,500 SA members was “that they are livid about the offer”.

An Education Department spokeswoman said negotiations were “continuing in good faith”.

“We are aware of the union’s proposal to take industrial action, and will continue to monitor the situation,” she said.

“The Department for Education will support schools and preschools if this is needed.”

The last round of negotiations between the AEU and government began in May 2018 and were not agreed on until February 2020.

They eventaully settled on a 2.35 per cent pay rise for teachers and 3.35 per cent for principals and preschool directors, after public teachers took industrial action including strikes which shut down hundreds of schools, or forced them to operate with limited programs.

Union members took other actions including not writing comments on student report cards and holding Christmas concerts in the daytime.

Opposition Education Minister John Gardner is urging teachers not to strike. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Kelly Barnes

Opposition education spokesman John Gardner said the “prospect of a strike will be of concern to families” and he urged union members not to vote in favour.

“The last thing our schools need is strike action on the 1st of September. That’s not in kids’ best interest,” he said.

However, Mr Gardner acknowledged that educators were “feeling more under the pump than perhaps they ever have before” after teaching through the Covid-19 pandemic.

He argued the state government had “substantial budget to negotiate with” and feared more teachers would leave the profession “if they don’t feel adequately respected by the government”.

A government spokeswoman last week said it was “committed to bargaining in good faith with the AEU”.

She said the government had received an official log of claims from the union late last month and returned “an offer that brings teachers up from being the worst paid in Australia and is consistent with the pay rise provided to nurses”, which was 3 per cent.

“The offer also takes significant action to reduce workload, expands paid parental leave and provides significant extra supports for complexities in the classroom,” the spokeswoman said.