Occupational violence at the centre of second Queensland teachers strike this year

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Thousands of Queensland teachers have walked off the job for a second time this year. Rallies were held across the state amid an ongoing pay dispute with the state government, but no one is giving an inch.

Transcript

00:00Pounding the pavement past the Tower of Power.

00:05Teachers united will never be defeated.

00:08Teachers swapped the classroom for rallies, pushing for a better deal.

00:12It's a hard job and we're not getting recognised for the work we do.

00:16I think this shows you just how upset and how angry teachers are.

00:20They feel disrespected.

00:22Teachers last month rejected an 8% pay rise over three years,

00:26but they say this is about more than money.

00:29I'm worried about younger teachers coming through

00:31and what's really hurting younger teachers is the occupational violence.

00:34Teachers are burnt out.

00:36Our members have had enough of teacher shortages.

00:38They've had enough of occupational violence.

00:40And yet we've tried to prove that we've tried to deal with many of those conditions

00:44through the actions we've taken about behaviour, about bullying, about red tape.

00:48The government and union today locked horns.

00:51I think that this is a strike that Premier Christopher Lee and Minister Langbrook wanted.

00:56I think that we have a Queensland teachers union that have decided to strike

01:00and we have to deal with the consequences.

01:02The government says students were caught in the middle.

01:05The Minister wants the dispute to go straight to arbitration

01:09and has rejected the union's call for an interim 3% wage rise.

01:14Look, I'm sorry, you can't just say, oh look, out of the bits that we really wanted,

01:19can we please add this bit before we go to discuss the rest?

01:23In the very least, David Christopher Lee should deliver them that 3% wage rise.

01:28This is the second time teachers have walked off the job during this pay dispute with the state government.

01:33The union is leaving the door open to a third strike,

01:36but concedes it'll be hard to fit in before the end of the school year.

01:40I can't rule it out, but it would be difficult to get it done.

01:43I can't rule it out, but it would be difficult to get it done.

01:45I can't rule it out, but it would be difficult to get it done.

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