Rita Panahi: Teachers’ strike threat a slap in the face to families

The Australian Education Union’s pay battle is an insult to families who have struggled with home schooling and watched their financial security be destroyed.

Talk about rotten timing. The Australian Education Union is challenging chief health officer Brett Sutton for the biggest self-own of the week.

Fancy threatening strike action as kids struggle through another week of substandard remote learning.

After close to two years of interrupted schooling, all students will be back for full time face-to-face learning in early November but the AEU has threatened further industrial action if they don’t secure a series of fat pay increases.

The first phase of the industrial action involves ignoring certain emails and meetings but the next phase may include strike action as well as the refusal to complete reports cards.

What a slap in the face for those families who have struggled with home schooling and watched their financial security be destroyed through no fault of their own.

Homeschooling hasn’t been a barrel of laughs for anybody, least of all kids, but at least teachers have not lost a cent in income.

AEU Victoria president Meredith Peace. Picture: Supplied

During prolonged periods of school closures they have collected their full salaries while many in the private sector saw their livelihoods and businesses shattered through six lockdowns.

Just another reminder we were never “all in this together”; those in the public service had job and wage security while those in the private sector paid a heavy personal price.

But it appears many teachers remain unsatisfied with their lot, with the AEU threatening further action if their demands, including a 7 per cent pay rise for each of the next three years and a 6.5 per cent increase to their superannuation, are not met.

Only Prof Sutton could beat the teachers’ unions in the arsehattery stakes this week.

The CHO was on radio late Wednesday afternoon assuring Victorians the worst of the current coronavirus outbreak was behind them.

Victorian Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

“At worst I think we’re in a plateau phase, but I’m reasonably confident we’re on the down slope,” he said.

Alas, the very next morning Victoria reported a new record of 2297 locally acquired cases, the first time an Australian state has broken 2000 daily cases.

Melbourne families have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic, the last thing they need is more unreliable piffle from the CHO or the threat of more school closures from teachers’ unions.

Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist