‘We’re in it for the fight’: State school teachers rally outside Parliament

3 months ago 23

Peter Haffenden is standing with hundreds of fellow state school teachers outside Parliament House, in inner-Brisbane, shortly after 4.30pm on Thursday.

The humanities teacher says he frequently spends weekends, holidays, and nights marking work, preparing lessons, and planning curriculum.

“I’ve been teaching 35 years and the workload’s probably gone up by a factor of five … I never get a chance to really spend time with my family because I’m working at home so much,” Haffenden said.

Teachers Andrew Weber (left) and Peter Haffenden (right) said workloads had increased over the more than three decades both men had been teachers.

Fellow Brisbane region teacher Andrew Weber estimated a normal working week demanded about 45 to 50 hours’ work, but said during marking periods the hours spent on teaching tasks skyrocketed.

“It’s obviously weekends, it’s obviously nights, it’s holidays … for instance, I’ve got to do probably 10 to 12 hours of drafts this weekend,” he said.

Thursday’s rally was a warm-up for Queensland Teachers’ Union (QTU) members, who are planning to strike before the end of the school term on December 12.

Last week the QTU backed down from a 24-hour work ban, having earlier promised to strike within three weeks of rejecting the state’s last wage offer.

Union president Cresta Richardson said a strike was still on the table, and a date could be determined as early as next week after executives met on Monday.

“Continuing to maintain pressure publicly is really important, and rallies do that, however, we are still in conciliation and being in conciliation means that we can take protected industrial action up until the end of the year,” Richardson said.

Teachers rally outside Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane.

“We didn’t think that it would be like this, but our members and us, we’re in it for the long term, and we’re in it for the fight.”

However, Richardson said the QTU was prepared to cancel the planned second strike if the government agreed to alter its arbitration terms.

After members voted down the state’s last pay offer two-to-one in late October, the Education Department began preparing for arbitration, seeking to redraft the entire enterprise bargaining agreement before the Queensland Industrial Court.

In return, the union asked the state to only consider the terms the two parties could not agree upon, including pay, attraction and retention schemes, and workplace safety measures.

The QTU also wanted a 3 per cent increase in teachers’ pay in 2026, as executives estimated a full arbitration could take two years, during which time teachers would see their pay only increase if it dipped below award levels.

On Thursday, Richardson said it would be an “onerous task”, potentially renegotiating conditions that had been in place for more than 20 years, such as caps on classroom sizes.

In a letter dated November 7, Education Department director-general Sharon Schimming told the QTU the government would not agree to anything before the two parties met again in court.

Once arbitration begins all industrial action will be unprotected.

QTU general secretary Kate Ruttiman speaking to gathered teachers outside Parliament House in Brisbane.

If the QTU agrees to arbitration, it could start in early December. If they do not, it would begin on December 31.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.