Fresh teacher strikes could be imminent as pay negotiations continue to stall, unless a state government steps forward with a significantly improved pay offer.
Educators have been locked in a pay dispute with the Victorian government, with 35,000 teachers walking off the job on Tuesday to demand a 35 per cent pay rise over three years.
Victorian graduate teachers are the worst paid in the country, earning $13,000 less than those in the Northern Territory, the best paid across the country.
Australian Education Union Victoria’s president Justin Mullaly warned “another day is not off the table”, adding more teachers will walk off the job in coming weeks and months.
"We're going to stop work over multiple weeks, on multiple days in individual areas of the state so there is action going on every day of the week," Mr Mullaly said.
The union has also threatened other kinds of industrial action, including bans on meetings, new department initiatives, responding to departmental emails and giving parents comments on reports.
The Australian Principals Federation, who supported the strike on Tuesday, are battling their own enterprise agreement offer with the state government.
The union is demanding a 32 per cent pay increase over four years, with negotiations ongoing after the government’s offer fell short of members’ expectations.
“The offer doesn't acknowledge the complexity of the principal role and the challenges that school leaders are facing across the board," APF President Andrew Cock told AAP.
"The job is becoming harder and harder."
The images of tens of thousands of teachers venting their frustration could haunt the Labor government in an election year.
The government met the union on Monday but is yet to table a revised offer and remains opposed to doubling the number of non-teaching days from five to 10.
The union and state Labor government remain far apart on a new pay deal after an offer of 18.5 per cent increase over four years was rejected.
The union is demanding a 35 per cent increase over the same period, along with measures to address excessive workloads and ongoing staffing shortages.
Education Minister Ben Carroll said the government's initial offer equated to $2.6 billion in extra wages and would immediately lift educators' pay by up to $11,000.
Liberal leader Jess Wilson slammed the government for its failure to reach an agreement.
"They are the people who are educating the next generation of Victorians, and they deserve a fair pay deal," she said.
