I will start by clarifying: I am a Queensland state school teacher. I will not be going on strike on the 5th of August - not because I don't believe that I deserve better pay, but because I don't believe that the Queensland Teacher's Union is operating fairly.

Recently, the ongoing pay dispute between the QTU and Education Queensland was referred to the Industrial Relations Commission. There is a good chance that the Commission will find in favour of Queensland teachers - the introduction of the National Partnership Agreements signifies an increased workload for teachers, and comparisons with interstate pay rates work in our favour. Why, then, does the QTU need to continue its campaign of public disruption to get its point across?

When teachers went on strike earlier this year, they enjoyed quite a high level of public support. Now, more than a month later, I think twice before telling people that I am a teacher. The union that is meant to represent us is turning us into pariahs. It is rejecting offers on our behalf without consulting us or even giving us details of the offers 'we' are rejecting. How does this help? Who does this serve?

WTF?

When I worked for Education Queensland I worked
in small regional areas.

Many of the female staff were married to local farmers
or business owners or were business owners themselves.

Their teaching salary was used almost exclusively
for discretionary spending. Some mainly taught because
it “gave them something to do.”

They cared little about pay increases and their political
leanings made them very critical of the union. They
generally did not strike.

Now, twenty years later I read in Monday’s Courier Mail
that housing prices in Brisbane are so high that Key Workers
such as teachers can no longer afford to live in the
areas they service.

I’m glad my income no longer comes from E.Q.

I do, however, hope that teacher strikes cause so much
disruption that there is a genuine public debate about
teacher salaries.

Otokonoko says: “ Now, more than a month later, I think twice before telling people that I am a teacher.”

The score to date:

State Government Propaganda Scare-monger Machine 1 - Teachers Union 0 .

Sure, teachers are asking for more money but what most really want is to be able to do their jobs better and be treated at least half-decently by the department.

Cull the management overheads in Brisbane's CBD. That would make teachers more productive (for obvious reasons) and release the resources desperately needed to support teachers in their first year out.

While they are at it, get rid of that very dangerous park near Brisbane's State High, the one where Australia's original inhabitants beat up passing students for their lunch money (which is why students shadow imported rugby playing students for protection) and convert it into decent playing fields with a swimming pool for State High.

Well, on the bright side it appears that ALL Queensland teachers will join me in not striking on the 5th. The union's on again, off again strike campaign has been ruled too confusing by the IRC, so the strike has been banned. Fair enough.

Additionally, the IRC has proposed an interim 4% pay increase while negotiations are underway, backdated to the 1st of July. This means that the 4.5% backpay we could have claimed from the beginning of May is now out the window - in dollar terms, the QTU's inflexibility and lack of consultation with its members has cost me $280, plus an additional $8 a fortnight for as long as the negotiations last.

Don't get me wrong - I'm in full support of the IRC here. It would take someone with considerable strength to deal with the pigheadedness of the Education Department AND the pigheadedness of the QTU. And the damage caused to the teaching profession and the standing of teachers in the community will go on long after the current education minister and QTU administration have faded into obscurity.

its not the place for a self taught illiterate to comment on...so i will simply say

good teachers...dont get paid enough
bad teachers get paid too much

it looks a bit cold...but for us its difficult to tell one from the other...students are hardly any real judge on good bad teachers...but a good teacher can get arround the govt policies delibberatly trying to dumb down the education system...govt would see a good teacher as making the perfect tax paying wage/slave...like the old soviat man

an unthinking party loyalist...good teachers teach their kids how to think...education should be the normal human state...

such things as rehgerstration to vote/getting a licence etc should all be part of the education curriculum...as is such things as extra subjects...if you can read you get this advantage...say driver licence or an earlier right to vote...built in incentives

the current education/system has failed..is setting up kids to fail..for mine there are no 'good' teachers...read dumbing down of the american education system...

it reveals its a deliberated policy...began in universities...via entripeneurs wanting dumbed down nearly illiterate serfs/..their ideal is the soviat man...not concerned about anything..[let alone govt abuses]...

well we got that..[thanks to those teachers putting cash before kids]

How much does a first, second, third year teachers earn? It seems teachers, nurses and police take it in turns to go on strike, Why do people join these professions knowing how much they will be paid and then get upset. Is it because they can't get other higher paid jobs or is it for the love of it?

I think that, in most cases, teachers take the job for the love of it. Or at least for the love of the idea of it. When I finished high school, I achieved results that could get me into any university course available in Australia - but I chose teaching because that was what I wanted to do.

As for getting into the job knowing the pay rates, you have a valid point. One problem, though, is that high school leavers (and this is probably the fault of the education system) don't really understand money. When you are accustomed to earning $10,000 or less a year at McDonald's, you don't really understand money. When your parents have been paying the bills, you don't understand what a good salary is and what sort of pay rate will leave you teetering on the brink of poverty. As a teacher, I will never be able to buy property in Townsville without the aid of a high-earning wife. And then what happens when we have kids?

On paper, teaching looks attractive - the graduate salary is much higher than other 'high flying' courses like law. The difference is that, after three years in the workforce, a good lawyer could be earning double the salary of a good teacher.