Victoria Teachers Strike Over Pay Dispute

Tens of thousands of public school educators in Victoria walked off the job on Tuesday in a 24-hour strike over a long-running pay dispute, marking the state's first such action in more than 13 years. The industrial action, led by the Australian Education Union, involved teachers, principals and support staff demanding a 35 percent pay increase over four years along with improvements to workloads and staffing shortages. Similar stopwork actions began in Tasmania's northwest on the same day, with further strikes planned for the north on Wednesday and the south, including Hobart, on Thursday.

More than 30,000 union members participated in Victoria, with about a third marching from Trades Hall to Parliament House in Melbourne for a rally. All 1,600 public schools remained open, but over 500 operated with skeleton crews, leading to widespread class cancellations. Parents received notices to keep children home where possible, particularly at schools like Cranbourne Secondary College, which limited access to children of critical care workers, and Point Cook Senior School, where 46 of 60 staff joined the strike. The Department of Education confirmed it was working to minimize...