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While unable to stop work, Catholic and independent school teachers threw their support behind their public colleagues.<\/p>\n
Across the state, Independent Education Union (IEU) members shared acts of solidarity in support of improved pay and conditions for state government employed teachers.<\/p>\n
Geelong-based Catholic teachers funded $1300 worth of coffees for AEU members to redeem on their way to strike action.<\/p>\n
Others held solidarity morning teas, shared messages of support and wore AEU red or IEU black on strike day.<\/p>\n
The public school stop-work has highlighted an ongoing legal battle between IEU and the Victorian Catholic Education Authority.<\/p>\n
Under their existing multi-enterprise agreement, IEU members cannot take protected industrial action.<\/p>\n
Negotiations between AEU and the state government are continuing following March’s strike action, the first in 13 years.<\/p>\n
In February, AEU member kindergarten teachers and educators stopped work for the second time in five months after 20 months of unsuccessful negotiations with the state government.<\/p>\n
The AEU confirmed before the March stopwork the industrial campaign will escalate further if members are not provided a “fair and decent offer”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A WEEK since more than 30,000 public teachers marched off the job in Victoria, a collective bargaining agreement is still yet to be finalised. Australian Education Union (AEU) Victoria members stopped work for 24 hours on 24 March after eight months of unsuccessful negotiations with the Victorian government. AEU Victorian branch president, Justin Mullaly, said […]<\/p>\n