United Voice has demanded an urgent meeting with West Australian Education Minister Peter Collier over contentious plans to slash 500 jobs in education.
After vowing on Friday that there were no plans for redundancies in education, Mr Collier announced on Tuesday that 150 support staff would go, along with 350 education assistants, as the state government moved to find public sector efficiencies and bolster its ailing balance sheet.
He later said he was originally referring to teachers, but the opposition insisted he was lying and called for him to be sacked.
Mr Collier also revealed on Tuesday that there would be a freeze on teacher numbers in public schools.
United Voice said on Wednesday the minister misunderstood the important role education assistants played in the lives of students and demanded an urgent meeting with him, saying the sackings would affect educational outcomes.
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The Community and Public Sector Union/Civil Service Association agreed, calling for an urgent meeting with the Education Department to outline what positions would be cut.
It echoed the State School Teachers' Union, which said teachers and school leaders would bear an additional workload as a result of the cuts.
And federal Treasurer Chris Bowen agreed the cuts wouldn't be good for students.
"Only federal Labor has got a plan to provide extra funding into WA government schools," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has not managed to convince WA Premier Colin Barnett to sign up to the Better Schools plan, formerly known as Gonski.
