Schools will be closed for the third time and not reopen later in the morning, buses will be docked at the station and nurses will leave their patients behind.

Since the state government's public servants wage agreements expired in June there has been a war waged over wages and conditions.

Both sides of the debate have encouraged the other to "bargain in good faith" but what is unclear is what bargaining is being done.

For union members and organisations, continuing to strike and disrupt services is the last resort they have, the last vestige of power they can muster to try and make the government listen.

However, when do you draw the line in the sand?

On Wednesday, it will be the third time schools have been disrupted by the teacher strikes - on some occasions they had to close early and twice they were closed in the morning.

This kind of disruption causes headaches for parents and carers, who are left scrambling to find alternative care arrangements for their children during the times schools are closed.

Options for parents include finding family to look after their kids, taking part or all of the day off.

For families in regional areas, with some schools in those areas not open until 11 or 12pm, there is consideration whether or not to send kids to school at all.

While the education sector is only one part of the public service who are striking, this kind of disruption would be found wherever stop work action is being held.

However, with it being the third time schools have had to close, there must be some cause to wonder how delicate a knife-edge of industrial action must be.

How many times do stop work meetings have to be held before the community says 'enough is enough'?

With the industrial action war going on into the long months, it's been since August for schools, is it time for a third-party watchdog to end the dispute?