2000 kinder teachers to trade classrooms for steps of parliament as they strike for better pay
Kindergarten teachers are trading finger painting for protest signs in their first strike since 2014, forcing hundreds of services to close after 17 months without a pay deal.
About 400 kindergarten services across the state are expected to be impacted on Tuesday as thousands of early educators walk-off the job following 17 months of failed pay negotiations.
Up to 2000 kindergarten teachers and educators are trading the classroom for the steps of parliament, stopping work for 24 hours in protest of the Allan government not coming to the table on a 35 per cent payrise.
Instead of teaching three and four-year-olds how to count and write their names, educators will join a mass Australian Education Union meeting, followed by a march on Spring St.
They’re calling for a pay increase to ensure their salary is competitive with school staff and improved conditions that address excessive workloads and burdensome administrative requirements.
AEU early childhood members in Victoria haven’t gone on strike since 2014, when 60 childcare centres were forced to shut as teachers campaigned for a better pay deal following 14 months of failed negotiations.
This time, up to 400 services are expected to be impacted, with some centres expected to shut completely as a result, forcing parents to make alternative arrangements that day.
AEU Victorian Branch President Justin Mullaly said he questioned the competence of the Allan government, given it’s been more than 17 months since staff last received a pay rise.
“Early childhood teachers and educators are being blanked by the Allan government and the Minister for Children – it’s a disgrace,” he said.
“Their work is undervalued, with kindergarten teachers’ pay having fallen behind primary school teachers, who are right now negotiating for significant further pay increases.
“It’s unacceptable that the Premier and the Minister are disrespecting teachers and educators and ignoring them, especially when on average they complete almost a full day of unpaid overtime each week.”
Tuesday’s strike will come after the AEU announced last month hundreds of kindergarten staff would participate in protected industrial action.
The first phase included stopping work when a Victorian Labor politician visited a centre, not responding to email queries unless related to occupational health and child safety and not attending staff meetings.
Those participating in the strike were given a deadline of September 9 to inform their employers they would be walking off the job to help them prepare for staff absences and centre closures.
In a letter sent to members, seen by the Herald Sun, AEU vice president early childhood Cara Nightingale and Mr Mullaly called on members to show “strength in union” and said stopping work would send a powerful message to the government that they must deliver fair wages and decent working conditions.
“When AEU TAFE teachers took stopwork action last year, it resulted in a decent offer being put on the table,” the letter said.
Mr Mullaly said parents should be alarmed over the government’s “failure” on negotiations, adding members were only taking such action “because of that failure”.
“Early learning is vital for children’s cognitive, social, physical and language development. We get the best outcomes for children through quality early learning and that comes from investing in the kindergarten workforce who deliver it,” he said.
“It’s nonsense for the Labor government to call Victoria the ‘education state’ without our kindergartens staffed by a workforce valued, respected, and properly paid.
“The Allan Labor government needs to show respect to our kinder teachers and educators and put a fair and decent pay offer on the table.”
A Department of Education spokesman said the Victorian government was not the employer of early childhood teachers and educators and was not a party to the agreement.
“Kinder teachers and educators do incredible work teaching our littlest Victorians, they’re shaping future generations,” he said.
“We encourage all parties to continue working together in good faith on a new agreement and to minimise the impact of any industrial action on children and families.”
Local government operated kindergarten services are under a different industrial agreement and are not in scope of Tuesday’s industrial action, which is being taken by AEU members employed by community sector kindergartens.
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Originally published as 2000 kinder teachers to trade classrooms for steps of parliament as they strike for better pay
