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Victorian teachers, principals and education support staff will prepare to walk off the job for a third time next month, giving the new Carroll government three weeks to pen a satisfactory pay and conditions deal or face further statewide disruptions.
The Australian Education Union met on Friday and voted for a 24-hour strike on August 19, escalating the year-long campaign after a pause in negotiations.
Victorian union boss Justin Mullaly said Premier Ben Carroll had not met with union officials since being appointed to the top job, despite publicly declaring his resolve to end the pay dispute.
“We demand that the government come back and negotiate,” Mullaly said.
“The union has made it clear, both publicly and otherwise, that we will engage in discussions whenever and wherever the government wishes to do that.”
The premier has repeatedly stated that his “door is open” when asked this week about resolving the pay dispute and the possibility of additional strikes.
Labor has not made a revised pay offer since union members narrowly voted to reject the Allan government’s July offer, which included a 28.3 per cent pay rise for teachers and education support employees.
More than 48 per cent of the 50,677 union members voted in favour of the last offer, which also included improved conditions such as a halving of meeting times.
The vote triggered a statewide strike that saw 20,000 school staff march through Melbourne last week. It followed a rally of 35,000 union members and supporters in March – the first strike in 13 years.
Mullaly said he had no doubt members would again show up in force for a third day of stop-work action.
“AEU members have indicated that they are prepared to continue to engage in industrial action if that’s what’s needed to get the government to come back to the table and, most critically, put a revised offer to them for their consideration,” he said.
“That’s what we’re focused on.”
The union accused the government of being “anti-Labor” by putting its July offer to all employees ahead of the union process.
While the government has so far insisted that it would continue to negotiate in good faith, it could decide to put the agreement to a vote of employees without the union’s consent.
It is not uncommon in enterprise bargaining for employers that reach an impasse with unions to negotiate directly with employees if there is reason to believe employees will accept an offer.
In that event, the enterprise agreement could be lodged with the Fair Work Commission for approval.
In response to Friday’s vote to escalate industrial action, a Victorian government spokesperson repeated the well-rehearsed line that “the most recent offer would have made Victorian teachers and education support staff the best paid in the country together with the best conditions”.
“Families are already juggling a lot and any further disruption is disappointing,” the spokesperson said.
“It’s in everyone’s interest to reach an agreement that values our teachers and strengthens our public education system.”
The Labor government is expected to announce a cabinet reshuffle as early as next week, which would likely see a Carroll loyalist appointed to the education portfolio.
An incoming minister would inherit the mess that has accumulated after more than 12 months of negotiations between the government and the union.
It is expected that the incoming minister, with Carroll’s backing, would prioritise the pay agreement with teachers and the signing of a school funding deal with the Commonwealth, to further distance the new Labor government from its predecessor.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated that a funding deal had been close to being signed when stating his support for Carroll’s leadership this week.
Albanese said he had spoken to the new premier about education investment and to expect announcements soon.
“They were just about ready to go and we’ll finalise those over coming days and weeks,” he said.
Consumer Affairs Minister Paul Edbrooke, a former teacher, seemingly ruled out a bid for the education portfolio on Friday.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any changes to my portfolios,” Edbrooke said.
The Frankston MP said there was confusion among teachers about why a deal was yet to be reached.
“They want to, I think, take up the offer to be the best-paid teachers in the nation, and some of them aren’t understanding exactly what the barrier is there,” he said.
The union’s left faction called a meeting on Friday night to decide its next steps following the vote to strike on August 18, after pushing for a strike as early as next week.
Ahead of the meeting, spokesperson Lucy Honan said it had not yet ruled out additional industrial action.
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