QLD Teachers Walk Out Again as Government Refuses Arbitration Meeting

BRISBANE: Teachers across Queensland state schools are on strike today in their second full-day walkout this year, escalating their industrial dispute with the government over pay and worsening working conditions.

The Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) has condemned the government’s refusal to meet their demands for pre-arbitration talks, which they claim would have averted today’s disruptive action.

The core of the dispute lies in the QTU’s rejection of the government’s three-year, eight per cent pay offer. The union maintains that the offer fails to address the underlying causes of the state’s severe teacher shortage: excessive workload, occupational violence, and aggression in schools.

QTU President Cresta Richardson laid the blame for the strike squarely at the government’s feet.

“Parents can thank the premier for this strike,” Richardson said. “We could have communicated and agreed to the very basic, reasonable request we had for arbitration and that would have stopped this strike.”

The QTU had requested a meeting with either Premier David Crisafulli or Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek to request two key concessions before arbitration begins automatically on December 31: narrowing the matters to be discussed and an interim three per cent salary increase.

Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek expressed disappointment, arguing the strike is futile since the negotiations are already headed to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC).

“We don’t have to wait until the end of December to begin that arbitration process,” Langbroek said, asserting the government is ready to begin immediately. He suggested the industrial action “is not going to make any difference in the process,” and stressed the government had put forward a “very clear offer that was negotiated over numerous meetings.”

Rallies and demonstrations are being held across the state today, from Cairns to Brisbane and the Gold Coast, as teachers emphasize that they are running out of “teachers and time to prevent a significant change in how state schools function.”