‘We've been quiet long enough': Queensland teachers strike in their thousands
'We've been quiet for long enough, our classroom conditions need to improve,' she said.
Queensland's 50,000 state school teachers have walked off the job for the first time in 16 years – and the Queensland Teachers' Union has not ruled out further strikes.
'We'll be updating our members around the state, and then we'll be considering what our next steps are,' QTU president Cresta Richardson said.
'And if that is further industrial action, then that's what that will be.
'We can afford an Olympic Games, but we can't afford to pay our teachers properly.'
In Brisbane, more than 4000 teachers were set to march from the Convention and Exhibition Centre in South Bank across the river to Parliament House.
Jack Diamond was among them.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Modern-day bullying': Minister asks striking teachers to consider premier's feelings
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has asked striking teachers to consider the impact of personal call-outs to politicians on the placards they carried at Wednesday's rally. Some 50,000 members of the Queensland Teachers' Union stopped work for the first time in 16 years this week, with thousands rallying on Parliament House in Brisbane, demanding better pay and conditions from the state government. In budget estimates on Thursday morning, Opposition education spokeswoman Di Farmer presented a stack of placards used during the strike that had been inspired by the classic children's book series No, David! by American author David Shannon. 'The first page says 'working nights, weekends, and holidays, that's not funny', and they say 'David', but obviously referring to the premier,' Farmer explained. Farmer asked Langbroek to hand the placards to Premier David Crisafulli. Langbroek agreed the signs should be tabled, but said he doubted it was an 'appropriate' way to deliver the concerns to his leader. 'People should be looking at the things that [the teachers] write ... in my view this can be seen as modern-day bullying,' Langbroek said. He added that politicians were 'all happy to cop cartoons' but some messages had crossed lines.
The Age
7 days ago
- The Age
‘Modern-day bullying': Minister asks striking teachers to consider premier's feelings
Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has asked striking teachers to consider the impact of personal call-outs to politicians on the placards they carried at Wednesday's rally. Some 50,000 members of the Queensland Teachers' Union stopped work for the first time in 16 years this week, with thousands rallying on Parliament House in Brisbane, demanding better pay and conditions from the state government. In budget estimates on Thursday morning, Opposition education spokeswoman Di Farmer presented a stack of placards used during the strike that had been inspired by the classic children's book series No, David! by American author David Shannon. 'The first page says 'working nights, weekends, and holidays, that's not funny', and they say 'David', but obviously referring to the premier,' Farmer explained. Farmer asked Langbroek to hand the placards to Premier David Crisafulli. Langbroek agreed the signs should be tabled, but said he doubted it was an 'appropriate' way to deliver the concerns to his leader. 'People should be looking at the things that [the teachers] write ... in my view this can be seen as modern-day bullying,' Langbroek said. He added that politicians were 'all happy to cop cartoons' but some messages had crossed lines.
News.com.au
7 days ago
- News.com.au
Talks resume after 50k teachers strike over pay, workload and conditions
Teachers are set to return to the negotiating table on Thursday just 24 hours after more than 50,000 walked off the job in a historic strike overpay and conditions and hundreds of thousands of students stayed home. The Queensland Teachers' Union (QTU) and the state government will meet on Thursday ahead of formal conciliation proceedings after months of stalled negotiations and two rejected pay offers. QTU president Cresta Richardson, who led a 4000-strong march on parliament during Wednesday's strike, has not ruled out further industrial action. The union is calling on Premier David Crisafulli to personally intervene. 'Premier, we want to talk to you,' Ms Richardson said. 'We're not going to take that 8 per cent. It's insufficient for us to be among the highest-paid teachers in the country.' Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King criticised the government's decision to provide additional incentives to police but not to other frontline workers. 'To have something that significant put to police not put on the table for nurses, teachers and other workers is indefensible,' she said. 'It shows a lack of respect.' Theme parks and play centres across South East Queensland reported a surge in visitors on Wednesday, as thousands of families sought alternative activities during the historic teacher strike. The Queensland Teachers' Union had encouraged parents to keep their children home, leading to venues like Movie World, Sea World, and various indoor play centres to roster on extra staff in anticipation of higher demand. The union argues that Queensland teachers risk falling behind their interstate counterparts as other agreements come up for renewal. Ms Richardson said while Queensland wages sat in the middle nationally, other states might soon leapfrog them unless improvements were made. Concerns have also been raised around teacher workloads, classroom behaviour, and occupational violence, issues Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek acknowledged in a media conference on Thursday morning. 'It's of great concern to me that anyone has to be putting up with occupational violence,' Mr Langbroek said. 'We have a zero tolerance for violence in our schools … teachers are not going to be punching bags.' He said a new workforce strategy, currently in development, would include a specific focus on occupational violence, with further details to be released in the coming weeks. Mr Langbroek also reaffirmed the government's confidence in reaching an agreement through the Industrial Relations Commission, highlighting parts of the existing offer that remain on the table. 'One of the conditions that we've made for an experienced senior teacher would see them at $134,000 right now under the offer that we've made to teachers,' he said. He noted that additional incentives, such as relocation allowances and regional bonuses, could boost starting teacher salaries by more than $10,000 in some areas. 'There is a clause in there that if inflation were to go up more, then there's an add-on that would happen under the agreement that we've offered,' Mr Langbroek added. The government's second offer included other improvements, such as a new overnight camp allowance, a $400 starting bonus for new teachers, and an extra pupil-free day. While the union rejected the offer as a whole, individual components remain open to discussion. As conciliation begins, broader questions around school infrastructure have also re-emerged. Mr Langbroek referenced a previously unreleased 2022 report, commissioned by the former Labor government, which assessed the condition of state school assets across Queensland. According to the government, the 'comprehensive review of infrastructure renewal' report found that more than 33 per cent of school assets were rated as poor or very poor, with an estimated repair bill of $441m. The review involved on-site inspections of schools across the state, identifying structural issues including leaking roofs, damaged retaining walls, and rusted gutters. The summary, which excludes schools built after December 2017 and buildings constructed after October 2021 as they are too new to require renewal, found that 1.5 per cent of school assets were rated as very poor, 32.2 per cent as poor, 37 per cent as fair, 29.2 per cent as good, and just 0.1 per cent as very good. The government claims the report showed maintenance funding had been diverted to other projects such as new halls and arts facilities. Mr Langbroek said the government was working to address both the immediate concerns of teachers and broader systemic issues. 'We're trying to deal with a lot of issues … behaviour, bullying, red tape, and then deal with this infrastructure issue as well,' he said.
