Secondary students converged on downtown Tauranga yesterday afternoon causing headaches for some shoppers and retailers as schools closed for half a day for a paid union meeting.
Tauranga police Senior Sergeant Stu Graham said police officers went to the central city to tend to young people "being a pain" about 2pm
yesterday.
They were gathering on The Strand, Mid City Mall and Devonport Rd.
Police told them to go home.
One shopkeeper, who spoke on the condition they weren't named, said there were students "everywhere".
"It did look nasty for awhile, they were yelling to each other and all over the road. People couldn't get past them.
"A lady came running into our shop wanting to call police. She'd seen a girl with blood all over her face."
One office worker said "kids took over the central city".
"They are in packs, swearing and shouting at each other, forcing other people off the pavement and generally behaving like, well, teenagers.
"Police are talking to a big group of girls in (Mid City Mall) but you can't even navigate Elizabeth St outside Burger King."
She had been approached by an elderly lady who said she felt intimidated and wanted help to get a bus home.
"I was abused for asking to get past a gang of boys and sworn at," the office worker said.
Meanwhile, the more than 400 Western Bay secondary school teachers who attended yesterday's meeting were placing their votes on whether to take industrial action, after failing to settle a wage deal with the Ministry of Education.
Western Bay Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) chair Jason Smythe said the results would be collated with the results of the nationwide meetings and an announcement would be made next week.
Most of the Bay's high schools closed early for the meeting, except for Bethlehem College, who were not part of the collective.
"The revised offer made a very small improvement in addressing a few low-cost PPTA claims but has a long way to go in meeting members' calls for an improved offer," Mr Smythe said.
"Much more constructive work is required and more in the 'funding envelope' to ensure that the future supply of secondary teachers is secure for 2012 and beyond.
"We are not prepared to sit by and allow the erosion of the secondary teaching profession."
