Albany teachers take to York Street in State School Teachers’ Union of WA protest

More than 200 teachers and supporters from the Great Southern marched up York St this morning as part of a state-wide union demand for increased funding and better working conditions across the state. Albany was one of seven regional points where teachers gathered for the State School Teachers’ Union of WA protest. The stop-work strike shut down more than 80 WA public schools for a half-day as teachers protested the government’s offer of a five per cent pay rise plus three per cent for the next two years, a rise that SSTUWA does not consider adequate. Teachers at the Albany protest said they also face increasing class sizes, unpaid overtime, violence and aggression in classrooms, and insufficient training for students’ complex needs. North Albany Senior High School teacher Jo Morgan said education department employees are expected to handle too many things inside a classroom. “We are not mental health providers, not department of child protection and not prison officers,” she said. “We are educators, and practices need to be put in so they can do their job and we can do ours. “We do this because we love it and we love the kids but it can’t just be on our own goodwill.” Albany Senior High School teacher Corinne Fox said teachers are leaving the profession because of the huge increase in unpaid working hours. Ms Fox said she works six days a week, starting early in the morning and finishing late at night. “There are so many extra responsibilities that are given to you that you are not paid for,” she said. “It’s different in the regions to the metro area, in that we have no district office, no one to talk to about the day-to-day things that come up. “My daughter is a graduate teacher and it’s a completely different workforce she’s entering than the one I started in 40 years ago.” SSTUWA president Matt Jarman said the union’s leaders felt the government’s offer did not go far enough. “Our members have accepted four years of wage freezes during a time of high inflation and ever-increasing workloads caused mainly by having to manage increasingly complex classrooms,” SSTUWA president Matt Jarman said. “If we want to attract and retain the best teachers in WA, particularly in the regions, they need to be paid adequately and have manageable workloads.” This is the first time in 10 years public school teachers have taken to the streets in protest with the last strike in 2014 protesting a $180 million cut to the education budget.