Teachers abandon WA's public schools for half-day strike in pay and conditions dispute

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Thousands of Western Australian public school teachers have gone on strike for the first time in a decade in a bid for more pay and improved conditions. The industrial action disrupted classes across the state and comes with a deadline for the government to avert further industrial action.

Transcript

00:00 Teachers say this was their last resort in the fight for a better deal from the government.

00:07 One, two, three, four, we won't take it anymore.

00:10 Pay is the minimum. It's the conditions.

00:13 It's having less than 32 kids in a year 8 classroom

00:16 where you've got at least half of them that have diagnosed conditions and no support.

00:19 This is my sixth year teaching and I've had thoughts already that this is getting a bit too much.

00:26 The Public School Teachers Union asking for more support for the challenges its members are facing.

00:31 In the last 12 months alone we've seen a 20% increase in violence in West Australian public schools.

00:37 Weapons are now part of public schools.

00:40 Support us, support students.

00:43 Thousands of educators stepped away from their whiteboards for the morning in Perth.

00:47 Smaller class sizes doesn't mean teachers will have less to do.

00:51 We'll just be able to do our job better.

00:54 And across the regions.

00:56 Overworked! Underfunded! Over it!

01:01 Schools all over affected with 84 forced to fully or partially close for the morning.

01:07 Many parents supportive despite the disruption.

01:10 They play such an important role.

01:12 They're educating our children, they're educating our future.

01:15 If we can't give to the teacher, we need to give to them because now everything is expensive.

01:21 These teachers have been offered an 11% pay rise over three years by the government.

01:25 But say on top of better conditions they need a 12% increase over two years.

01:30 The union says that will make them among the best paid in the country.

01:34 And their members are prepared to take further industrial action to get there.

01:38 The Treasurer says she's heard the concerns but...

01:41 We don't want to be in a situation of other states where they basically bankrupted their state,

01:45 losing AAA credit ratings and then having to cut the workforce.

01:49 In December, the Cook government projected a surplus for 2023-24 of $3.7 billion.

01:58 Mr Cook, Ms Safiotti, share the surplus.

02:04 The unions given the government until May 10 to improve its offer or risk further industrial action.

02:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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