‘All about the students’ for striking teachers

Striking teachers in South Australia say the industrial action is about conditions and funding for student support.

Teachers and other union members wear red shirts as they take to the streets of Adelaide to push their pay-rise case with the state government Picture: AAP

Striking teachers in South Australia say they are the second-lowest paid in the nation but insist industrial action that closed hundreds of schools yesterday is about conditions and funding for student support.

More than 3000 public school teachers and other union members took to the streets in Adelaide’s CBD yesterday to rally outside the Education Department’s headquarters after voting earlier this week to walk off the job over an enterprise bargaining dispute with the eight-month-old state Liberal government. It was the first strike by teachers in South Australia in a decade.

Dressed in red shirts, the rowdy protesters sang John Farnham’s You’re The Voice, waved union flags, chanted slogans and held up placards criticising the state government.

Treasurer Rob Lucas has been at loggerheads with public sector unions since the Liberals ended 16 years of Labor government in March.

His first budget in September led to industrial action by the Public Service ­Association and clashes with the Salaried Medical Officers Assoc­iation.

Mr Lucas yesterday said the ­action by the Australian Education Union was really about a 3.5 per cent pay rise demand that would cost the government $80 million a year.

But the union said teachers were striking over demands for ­reduced class sizes, more support for country schools and more ­resources for special needs children among other changes.

But Mr Lucas said the “rush to strike” was “puerile”.

“No amount of flag waving or singing John Farnham songs is going to improve student learning outcomes or change the amount of money that is in the budget, which is a massive increase of $515m,” Mr Lucas said yesterday.

“What we need to do is work out how best to spend $515m to improve student learning outcomes. There needs to be a reasonable salary increase, but there needs to be enough money there for literacy and numeracy programs … the union has to back off.”

National salary figures for teachers provided to The Australian yesterday by the AEU show the most experienced teachers earn an annual salary of $116,626 in Western Australia, followed by South Australia where top teachers were on $113,341.

Top teachers in the Northern Territory earned $105,172; in the ACT $101,821; NSW $100,299; Victoria $101,260; Queensland $101,000; and Tasmania $97,763.

On the other end of the scale, the data show new teachers in Tasmania are the lowest paid on $59,245, followed by South Australia on $59,396; Queensland $61,806; NSW $67,248; Victoria $67,558; the ACT $68,022; WA $70,137; and the Northern Territory on $73,334.

AEU state president Howard Spreadbury told the rally the government had underestimated the resolve of teachers on smaller class sizes and better pay.