Teachers at 38 Catholic schools in the Canberra and the Goulburn region have voted to strike later this month after wage negotiations with their employer broke down in July.
Lyn Caton from the Independent Education Union said there was no set date but teachers were aiming to take action within the next two weeks.
"About 5:00pm yesterday we were given the final results... 38 schools have been approved to take the protective action ballot at whatever stage we choose to notify the employer. We have to, under Fair Work, give them three days notice of any intended action," she said.
Teachers and support staff in the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn took a vote on whether to take industrial action over an agreement proposed by Church employers, which potentially increases class sizes, increases face-to-face teaching hours and removes some senior teaching positions in primary schools.
Under the current agreement primary school class sizes are limited to 25 children for Kindergarten to Year 2, and 30 children for classes from Years 3 to 6, while high school classes are limited to 25 students. But the new agreement considered in July makes no reference at all to class sizes, according to the union.
The proposed agreement increases face-to-face teaching hours for high school teachers from 20 to 22 hours per week. It would also place restrictions on how primary school teachers are allowed to spend their two hours of relief from face-to-face teaching each week, the union said.
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