Tasmanian state school teachers have walked off the job this morning, leaving many parents in the lurch.
Teachers gathered in Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie to rally for better pay and conditions.
The two-hour stop work meeting meant state schools did not officially open until 10:30am.
Last Friday the state government proposed an average annual pay rise of 2.75 per cent over four years, as well as a one-off $1,500 bonus for all state service workers.
However, the offer was slammed by unions as "arrogant".
The Australian Education Union said the offer did not do anything to reduce teachers' workloads, and the pay increase would still see Tasmanian teachers paid less than their interstate counterparts.
AEU state president David Genford said teachers and support staff were suffering burnout and leaving the profession.
"AEU educators have spent more than 14 months negotiating with the Rockliff Government, who have failed to support even one of our Lifting Learning solutions to Tasmania's overstretched public education system, all while student learning suffers," he said.
"We cannot stand by and continue to lose good quality teachers and support staff."
'Fed up' teachers want to be heard
Hellyer College laboratory technician Mandy Jackson was one of about 150 people who attended the Burnie stop-work meeting.
"There are no relief laboratory technicians on the north-west coast. So, if I am sick, there is no one to do my job," she said.
"I am fed up to be honest, and I am fed up for my young colleagues.
"I've got grandchildren who will be going to kindy in a couple of years and I worry about what the education system is going to be like for them."
Secondary teacher Miranda Debeljakovic says teachers want the government to sit down, listen and believe them.
"It really stems from the emotional drain. You find yourself waking up in the middle of the night thinking, 'What am I going to be doing about this kid? What am I going to do about this problem I've got?' and you don't have a solution," she said.
"There's an ever expanding to-do list of things you have to get done, and you are continually adding to it."
Many parents support strike
While some parents scrambled to arrange childcare for the strike, care was available for those with no alternative.
Many of those dropping off students at Hobart's Landsdowne Crescent Primary School were happy to wear the disruption.
"We're happy to do what we need to do in support of our teachers, who do a fabulous job," Laura Michaelson said.
"I think our teachers do an amazing job and you couldn't pay me double what they get paid to do that job. So, I think, we should be supporting them more," Kate (who declined to give her surname) said.
"It's two hours of my life — I'm okay."
It was a similar story at East Launceston Primary School.
"I'm all for the strike," one father said. "Having pay parity with the mainland makes sense to me."
Government accused of favouring stadium over teachers
Labor leader Rebecca White has accused the government of prioritising building a new AFL stadium over resources for the education system.
The government has committed to footing half the bill for a new, multi-use stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart as part of a bid to secure a Tasmanian AFL team.
"Premier, is building a 750 million dollar stadium more important to you than making sure our schools are properly resourced, our educators are supported and our students get a great education? Because it sure seems like it," she said in state parliament.
However, Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the government was ready and willing to negotiate in good faith with the education union.
"To support our teachers when it comes to workload, to support our teachers when it comes to professional development, to support our teachers in building capacity in a system of education based on equity."
