TAFE teachers across Victoria are ready to walk out of classrooms again as frustration reaches boiling point over negotiations for a new pay deal.
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The teachers from Victoria's 12 standalone TAFEs rallied on Wednesday, including outside the electorate offices of Premier Jacinta Allan and TAFE Minister Gayle Tierney.
The strike is the second in as many months called by the Australian Education Union, amid stalled pay negotiations.
The teachers are "falling well behind" school teachers when it comes to pay, struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and higher interest rates, the union's Victorian branch vice president Elaine Gillespie said.
"We are the lowest funded in Australia," she said.
"We've got a shortage of TAFE teachers that means that we have to increase the number of students in classes."
In a union survey of 490 Victorian TAFE teachers published in June, 78.7 per cent reported a teacher shortage in their area or department.
Two out of three (69.3 per cent) had considered leaving their job in the past 12 months and more than half (53.1 per cent) said their class sizes had increased over the previous two years.
Ms Gillespie said they have been at the negotiating table for more than two years for a pay and conditions deal which would bring their pay in line with experienced school teachers who, she said, are paid $7742 more.
"We are asking the state government to fund TAFE properly and to fund the agreement that will mean TAFE teachers get the respect and the pay that they deserve," she said.
She told AAP the Victorian TAFE Association is at the table but the organisation able to fund agreements is the state government.
If Ms Allan and Ms Tierney don't put a decent offer on the table, Ms Gillespie said TAFE teachers are prepared to walk off the job for 24 hours on August 21 and march to parliament.
The Victorian government has sought to distance itself from the enterprise agreement negotiations, suggesting it is not party to the talks.
"Victoria is home to some of the most talented TAFE teachers in Australia, and we continue to support them by investing in TAFEs to ensure all Victorians receive the training and skills they need," a state government spokeswoman said.
"We've invested more than $4.5 billion in TAFE since 2014 - rebuilding our nation-leading TAFE system after the former Liberal government sacked more than 2000 TAFE teachers, shut 22 TAFE campuses and ripped $1 billion from TAFEs across Victoria."
The government expects the union and the Victorian TAFE Association to continue to negotiate in good faith, to reach a resolution as soon as possible.
VICTORIA'S 12 STANDALONE TAFES:
* Bendigo/Kangan (BKI)
* Box Hill
* Chisholm
* GO TAFE
* Holmesglen
* Melbourne Polytechnic
* TAFE Gippsland
* The Gordon
* South West TAFE
* Suni TAFE
* William Angliss
* Wodonga TAFE
Australian Associated Press
