Victorian TAFE teachers strike

TAFE teachers in Victoria went on a 24-hour strike yesterdayand as such are demanding equal pay and better working conditions after negotiations with the Victorian TAFE Association stalled. Some 1,500 Victorian TAFE teachers marched through Melbourne's CBD yesterday - August 20th - protesting that they are paid $13,000 less than their school counterparts. Australian Education Union TAFE state president, Gillian Robertson, told the rallying crowd that they are the worst paid in Australia and endure the poorest conditions.  "You should not have to put up with this any more, and I am sick of it," Robertson told them. Teachers claimed that some of their students were being paid more than them, and the pay cuts they took to leave industry jobs for teaching were just too great. The Victorian TAFE Association, representing employers, said 25% of teachers participated in the strike and denied the union's claims that some TAFEs had closed. Union state president, Mary Bluett, warned there would be an exodus of TAFE teachers at a time when Australia suffered from a skills shortage.  "They earn $13,000 less than their school colleagues. That is unsustainable," she told reporters. "Unless we get that resolved before the end of the year, we will see TAFE teachers leaving in their droves to teach in secondary schools, or to go back to industry." TAFE science teachers Trish Newstead and Dinah Van Ruyven, who left private-sector jobs to teach, criticised government for "banging on about a skills shortage" while not supporting them. "Our students earn more than some of us, such as students from the army that are paid $60,000 a year to study," Ms Van Ruyven said. "How do you expect to attract people from industry?" Executive Director of Victorian TAFE Association, David Williams, said the union must agree to productivity improvements. "We acknowledge TAFE teachers want to maintain the equivalent pay they have had in the past with school teachers and think that's a reasonable request," he said. "At the same time the union needs to put on the table productivity increases and mount a case so we can substantiate that to government. That's not unreasonable." Ms Bluett said teachers would stage three- and four-hour stoppages unless the TAFE Association and the government met their demands by September 12. Victorian schoolteachers secured pay rises of up to 11% in May, but must also teach an extra 10 minutes a day, the equivalent of six days a year. Mr Williams said the sector and students - which employs more teachers and has more students than universities - could not afford more strikes and he may seek to have them banned at the Industrial Relations Commission. Premier John Brumby has proposed setting up HECS-style loans to TAFE students that would lead to more funding, through higher fees but the union argues this would shut out poorer students.