TEACHERS and principals frustrated with pay negotiations are considering walking off the job on June 7.
As negotiations between the Australian Education Union (AEU) and state government collapse, teachers from the north-west have vowed to send the message that their work has been undervalued for long enough.
Teachers are seeking a 30 per cent pay rise over three years and a maximum class size of 20 students.
The government says the claims are unrealistic and unsustainable.
Essendon Keilor College teacher Lillie Wilson said schools risked losing their best teachers.
“They are talking about increasing class sizes, which would increase teacher workloads and give them less time to help students,” she said.
“I believe the community expects the highest quality from the system, and that’s what we are trying to protect.”
The best-paid teachers in Western Australia and NSW earn, respectively, $7441 and $2822 more than Victorians doing the same work.
Ms Wilson said Premier Ted Baillieu was being haunted by his promise to make the state’s teachers the nation’s best paid.
“Before being voted in, he said he would be making us the highest paid, but now they’ve turned around and offered us a 2.5 per cent rise,” she said.
“That doesn’t even keep up with the increase in living expenses, so it’s effectively a pay cut.”
AEU members will vote on May 30 whether to call a 24-hour statewide stoppage of principals and teachers for June 7.
Ms Wilson said many parents would support their position.
“The communication between the government and the union has broken down and this is the only way we might have progress.”
