State school teachers plan to strike within three weeks

State school teachers are making plans to strike for a second time this year, after union members voted to knock back the Queensland government’s latest wage offer.

In a memo sent out to members on Monday afternoon, the Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) said it supported a 24-hour stoppage in the next three weeks, but an exact date had not been decided.

Secretary Kate Ruttiman wrote that the decision was made at the state council meeting on the weekend, which was called to set the union’s agenda after members voted down the offer on Friday.

“State Council called on all QTU members to continue the campaign for an [enterprise bargain] that addresses the core elements of the QTU claim and supported the conduct of another 24-hour stoppage within the next three weeks on a date to be determined,” Ruttiman said.

“It continues to be the QTU’s preference to reach an agreement with the government, however, we are firm in our resolve that we will keep campaigning.”

The union said more than 60 per cent of members had their say before the window closed at 2pm on Friday, and of those who voted, two-thirds rejected the offer.

The rejected offer included an 8 per cent wage increase over three years, attraction and retention measures, and new pay brackets. Senior teachers would be paid $135,000, and first-year teachers just over $90,000.

The offer also introduced measures to combat occupational violence, including a new workplace strategy and workplace health and safety taskforce.

Teachers told this masthead they wanted more detail and a clear time frame for the new anti-occupational violence measures, and called the 8 per cent wage offer disrespectful.

Premier David Crisafulli told media on Sunday the state had begun the process to launch arbitration with the union in the Industrial Court of Queensland.

“We respect the teachers in this state,” he said.

“We want to remove regulation so they can teach, and we’ve put forward a historic pay deal which shows how much we value them, and we’ll continue to be at the table.

“Through arbitration, I’m very confident that there’ll be a deal that acknowledges how valuable the teachers are to this state.”

The union said last week arbitration could continue for up to two years until an agreement was reached, but did not expect the process to begin until December this year.

In Queensland, once a union enters arbitration it undertakes a “peace obligation”, banning all forms of industrial action, including strikes.

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