Small business in the North and North-West are expected to bare the brunt of a late school starting time in on Tuesday due to union action by education staff over wages and conditions.
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Public schools in both regions will open at 10.30am due to two-hour stop work meetings which have left parents in a position to have to either negotiate time off work or organise child-care arrangements.
The Australian Education Union said the action was not taken lightly by teaching staff but needed to be done to send a firm message to the government that teachers were overworked and underpaid.
The government has made an offer to the union of a 2 per cent pay rise each year and the promise to hire 95 specialist staff above an election promise of 250 more school teachers.
This was rejected by AEU negotiators.
Tasmanian Small Business Council executive officer Robert Mallett said by now, the state’s small businesses would have developed a way to deal with the disruption.
“But yet again, business owners will have to bend over backwards to accommodate the needs of staff,” Mr Mallett
“It’s not the business owners’ fault or the fault of staff.”
Mr Mallett said hundreds of businesses would opt to do a deal with staff members to let them start late in the hope the good will was returned at the busier end of the year.
Labor spokesman Shane Broad said the government needed to scrap its pay cap policy.
“We support the right for teachers to negotiate an agreement in good faith,” he said.
Government spokesman Michael Ferguson said the union action was regrettable.
