Friday’s teacher stop work action has been paused after the walk off threat prompted a Rockliff Government pledge to improve its Teachers’ Agreement offer.
Schools are set to remain open on Friday as the Rockliff Government finalises a revised teacher offer to union members, with new funding brought to the table for in-class support after strong member pressure.
Australian Education Union Tasmania President David Genford said the Rockliff Government could have avoided any school closure confusion or inconvenience by providing an offer with in-class support last week, or at any point during 18 months of negotiations.
“The only time the Rockliff Government has shifted is when stop work action is on the table,” he said.
“It should not have taken a planned walk-off and strong union action for the Government to deliver students what they desperately need.
“It also shouldn’t have taken 18 months for the Rockliff Government to act on the need for more in-class support in schools and colleges as teachers increasingly walk away from the profession citing burnout.
“For too long educators have cried out for the resources needed to lift learning, and for too long their cries for help have been denied by the Rockliff Government.
“The AEU, on the other hand, responded to and advocated for the working conditions of our educators and because of members standing up and taking action, some workload relief has been pledged.”
Since negotiations began, teachers had told the Rockliff Government, for any offer to be considered, in-class support measures must be included to address the state’s worsening education crisis.
“We will now carefully consider the revised offer and determine whether the promised in-class support measures help meet the needs of educators, who for more than 18 months, have had their untenable working conditions ignored by this government,” said Mr Genford.
“In the end, it will be AEU members who decide whether an offer for a new Teachers Agreement is satisfactory or whether we continue our collective action.”
