Day of mass disruption: Victoria braces for ‘costly’ teacher walkout

Employers across Victoria are bracing for knock-on disruptions when up to 30,000 government school teachers walk off the job on Tuesday, while a leading business expert has warned the action could cost the economy millions.

Australian Industry Group Victorian head Tim Piper warned that the strike would have a substantial effect, with the action disrupting the working day for parents around the state and sections of Melbourne’s CBD brought to a standstill as up to 10,000 educators are expected to march through the city.

“If you have the potential for there to be as many people not working as there will be, then that’s going to be into the tens of millions of dollars,” Piper said. “It’s going to be costly.”

Hundreds of thousands of families have been forced to make alternative arrangements for their children after the Australian Education Union defied a last-minute plea from Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday to abandon plans for the first statewide teachers’ strike in 13 years.

But confusion among parents is widespread, with the government insisting all schools will be open, while principals, many of whom will join the strike, have advised families to keep their children at home.

Most government schools have said supervision will be available for the children of emergency workers by prior arrangement with the school, while a small number of schools will have enough teachers at work to offer classes.

But with all teachers, principals and assistant principals at some schools planning to take part in the industrial action, the government is relying on a strike-breaking workforce of casual relief teachers and retired teachers to fulfil its pledge to keep schools open.

Parents who spoke to The Age at school gates on Monday were broadly supportive of the strike and sympathetic to the teachers despite the confusion.

At Kensington Primary School, several parents said they would work from home, take a day off to do something with their children or have grandparents step in for the day.

Kerrie Gardner, a grandparent of a child in prep at the school, said she volunteered to help for the day because she supported the strikes.

“Teachers haven’t had a pay rise in forever, the conditions have been eroding in the past 10 years plus, and teachers’ workloads are just out of control,” she said. “Unless the teachers have good conditions, the students don’t.”

At Albert Park Primary School, Amanda Kay, who was picking up her son John, said she was supportive of the strike and that all teachers across Australia should be paid the same.

“They are the fundamentals of our education system, so we do need to support them, absolutely,” Kay said.

But the strike was not set to disrupt the family’s day on Tuesday, with John competing in the divisional swimming competition on the day instead of attending school.

“If I was working it would, but no, I won’t be affected by it,” Kay said.

Parents Victoria, the peak group for school families, said it supported “the principle behind the strike” and that the relatively low wages paid to Victorian state teachers was a serious threat to the quality of education in government schools.

The group’s chief executive, Gail McHardy, said parents were broadly sympathetic to the strike, but acknowledged that they would still come under pressure juggling work and care on the day.

“[Families] can see the pressure teachers are under, but that support is often tempered by concern about disruption to their children,” McHardy said.

“Even among parents who support the action, there’s still the very real challenge of managing the day.

“Most families will be relying on a mix of options – taking leave, adjusting work arrangements, or leaning on extended family and friends – but that’s not easy to organise at short notice.”

The union says its members are justified in taking action after the government tabled what the union calls a “totally unacceptable” offer last week – nine months into talks for a new pay deal.

The state offered 17 per cent over three years with a 1.5 per cent overtime allowance, an extra student-free day and a trial of flexible work arrangements, but the union is seeking a 35 per cent pay rise over four years, smaller class sizes and improved mental health and classroom support.

The dispute comes after two wins for other groups of state government workers last year – police won a 20 per cent pay increase, and nurses struck a 28 per cent pay deal.

The Department of Education would not say on Monday how many educators had been recruited for the auxiliary workforce, but the premier said the strike did not need to go ahead.

“We’ve got a strong offer on the table,” Allan said on Monday morning.

“The only way to get agreement on that offer is to stay at the negotiating table, and that’s why the leadership of the AEU should really be rethinking this action tomorrow because it’s only really providing inconvenience for families at a time when families have got enough on their plate.”

But the union’s Victorian branch president, Justin Mullaly, said teachers had been disrespected by the offer.

“If they wanted this not to go ahead, they should have made a decent offer before now,” Mullaly said.

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