Teachers at Qld Catholic schools to stop work for more pay

More than 4000 teachers and support staff from Queensland Catholic schools will stop work on Wednesday over low wages and high workloads.

The staff will walk out for one hour from 10am across 106 schools, including All Hallows’, St Joseph’s Nudgee College and Marist College Ashgrove.

Brisbane’s All Hallows’ school is one of several affected by Wednesday’s strike.Credit: Michelle Smith

During the stop-work action, the duty of care for students will lie with the individual schools.

The Independent Education Union’s Queensland and Northern Territory branch secretary, Terry Burke, said strike action was the only avenue left following what he said was the failure of Queensland Catholic schools to listen to employees’ concerns about working conditions.

“There’s a workload crisis for teachers in our schools, but the employers don’t want to talk about it,” he said.

St Joseph’s Nudgee College is another school affected by the stop-work action.Credit: Harrison Saragossi

“Catholic school support staff haven’t seen a change in their wage structure in over 30 years.

“It’s unfortunate that the students are not in class for that hour, but it’s for the higher good, so employers can come to the table for discussion and staff can do the job at the highest quality.”

Burke said the enormous efforts from staff to ensure a good quality of teaching were unsustainable without change.

“Their weekends are often taken away from their own family, making sure they catch up from last week’s work and prepare for the new week,” he said.

Only 35.4 per cent of teachers would recommend the profession to others.Credit: iStock

A 2022 Monash University survey showed Australian teachers felt their work was unappreciated, and a large majority were planning to, or would like to, leave the profession.

A large majority reported that their workload was unmanageable, and a quarter reported feeling unsafe in the workplace.

Only 27.6 per cent planned to stay in teaching until retirement, while 19.9 per cent said they planned to leave in five years.

Only 35.4 per cent would recommend teaching as a career.

“It’s not sustainable in the long term. I’m exhausted by the workload,” one teacher who planned to leave the profession said in the Teachers’ Perceptions of their Work survey.

Another said: “I’d like to get a better work-life balance.

“I’ve hit burnout twice already. I don’t expect I can keep up the level of energy or give so much of my time for much longer.”