00:00About a thousand kindergarten and early childhood educators have walked off the job in Victoria today for the first time in over a decade.
00:10They say it's been more than 17 months since their last pay rise and 15 months of negotiations with the state government.
00:16They say they're yet to even receive any offer at all.
00:19Now they say this coupled with long hours and overtime is leading to burnout and many to leave the sector.
00:25I have been in this industry for just under four years, that's not a lot.
00:30And I've already thought about leaving, I don't know, I think I think about it every month about leaving because of being burnt out.
00:36We need to invest in children's future and with no educators there's no future for the children.
00:42The state government has an ambitious target of funding 15 hours of fee-free kindergarten per week for three-year-olds and the expansion to 30 hours for four-year-old children by 2036.
00:53But the union representing these workers here today, the Australian Education Union, says these targets are at risk and that 11,000 more teachers and educators are needed to meet those targets.
01:02Now Acting Premier Ben Carroll didn't go as far as backing these workers here today, but said he did want to see them have nationally competitive wages.
01:10Today they've marched through the CBD and finished behind me on the steps of Parliament and they say they're prepared to do it again.
01:17Do it again.
01:18Do it again.
01:19Do it again.
01:20Do it again.
Comments