On Monday evening, the union asked parents to keep children at home if possible, to ease reduced staffing numbers at most state schools.
The union said the strike date, in week eight of term four, was selected to avoid clashes with year 12 exams and end-of-year activities set for the final two weeks of the year, although QTU leadership said they accepted interruption was inevitable.
Tuesday is also less than a month before Christmas, denting teachers’ first December pay cheque, which would usually include leave loading from the year on top of regular pay.
Speaking last week, QTU vice-president Leah Olsson said it was up to individual members to decide if they would be able to strike.
Thousands of teachers were expected to front rallies across the state, the largest of which would march on parliament from 10am.
The union said it was prepared to halt action if the government agreed to its arbitration conditions – which include only renegotiating parts of the agreement that the two parties couldn’t agree on – or offered a new, improved deal.
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The government had offered a three-year 8 per cent wage increase, attraction and retention incentives, a new experienced senior teacher pay bracket, and anti-occupational violence measures.
The QTU said they believed it would not resolve Queensland’s teacher shortage and the issues behind it, including workload, occupational violence and aggression.
On Tuesday, Langbroek said the state would not reissue its last offer, and hinted the new agreement could just as easily leave teachers worse off, as benefit them.
Arbitration talks at the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission would automatically begin on December 31, after which point industrial action would not be protected.
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