00:02Tens of thousands of teachers and supporters shut down Bourke Street Mall this morning
00:07as they marched here to Victorian Parliament demanding better pay and better conditions
00:12for teachers right across the state.
00:14Now, you can probably still hear some behind me now.
00:18They have been lively this morning.
00:19They have been loud.
00:20Most of all, they have been angry.
00:22They say enough is enough.
00:24Now, this is all part of this ongoing dispute between Victorian government and the education
00:29union.
00:30This is the second time this year we've seen scenes like this in Melbourne's CBD with teachers
00:35walking off the job for 24 hours.
00:38Now, the government had tried to bring an end to this strike today.
00:42They brought an offer to the table on Friday, which would have seen teachers receive a 28%
00:47pay rise over the next four years and half the number of meetings they needed to attend.
00:52The Victorian government says that would have made Victorian teachers among the highest paid
00:56and in the best conditions in the country.
00:59But a small majority of teachers said that is not good enough.
01:03When it was brought to a union vote on Tuesday, 51% voted against that offer.
01:10So this strike did indeed go ahead today.
01:13Now, we spoke to several members that were here today who explained why they felt this action
01:18was necessary.
01:19There's only one reason we don't have the resources to do the very, very best for our students,
01:24and that is the failure of this government to sign on to the full funding deal.
01:30They're not doing it for them, they're doing it for the kids.
01:33I just want to fight with everyone else, every other member, because this job is just not
01:39sustainable.
01:40I've been teaching quite a number of years and I've seen so many teachers and education support
01:47staff leave the profession.
01:49It is not sustainable.
01:51Now, as you can imagine, tens of thousands of teachers walking off the job.
01:55That means hundreds of thousands of students that can't go to their classroom as usual.
02:00So this has had a huge flow on effect for the state.
02:02There are a number, many, many parents that have had to take the day off work to be at home
02:06with their kids.
02:08But the union says that is a necessary chaos to get that point across.
02:12Most schools have remained open but are operating at a limited capacity and can only provide supervision
02:18to a small number of students.
02:20And the union has warned this might not be the last time we see action like this this year.
02:25They say if the government doesn't bring what they consider to be a viable option to the table
02:31very shortly, they will not rule out striking again in the very near future.
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