ACT Teachers Announce Full Day Strike in June After Two-Hour Action

As ACT public school teachers and staff wrapped up a two-hour strike, the Australian Education Union ACT branch announced it would ramp up to a full day of industrial action in June.

The union said the next strike was slated for Thursday, June 11.

It comes as Canberra's public school teachers and staff this morning undertook a work stoppage for the first time in 15 years.

Throsby School teacher Olivia Neilson said "our kids in Canberra deserve more".

"We're here to say we need resourcing, we need staffing to do our jobs properly," Ms Neilson said.

"We're having split classes every day … where teachers are having extra students. We're doing our very best to give the students what they need in terms of stability.

'This is phase one'

Belconnen High School teacher Jackson St George was among colleagues as he rallied this morning.

"This is us tame ... but this is phase one ... there's going to be longer strikes, more strikes," Mr St George said.

"For me personally, this is about safety ... teachers are the most assaulted profession in the country.

"Makes me feel like [the ACT government] is incompetent. They've had eight months to look at our claim and figure out if they agree with them, or disagree," he said.

AEU ACT branch president Angela Burroughs said the industrial action was necessary as the ACT government was "out of touch and doesn't care".

The intention to strike for a full day in June comes as tension rises between the AEU and the ACT Education Directorate over negotiations on a new enterprise agreement.

AEU ACT's Branch Secretary Patrick Judge said members were asking the directorate "to commit to the minimum staffing for our schools".

"We're asking for recognition of the extra resources that some students require to succeed," Mr Judge said.

"We're asking to be safe at work."