Teachers strike: Te Puke teachers unite to get message across

Striking teachers getting the message across on Jellicoe St, Te Puke, yesterday. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

A local NZEI leader says she believes there is a lot of community support for striking teachers.

Yesterday, most of the district’s classrooms sat empty as teachers and principals joined 50,000 of their colleagues in strike action.

Members of the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) and New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) want the Government to increase staffing and funding to schools and kindergartens so teachers can better meet children’s needs, and to improve current pay offers in order to attract and retain people in the teaching profession.

NZEI Te Puke branch president Robyn Lose says local teachers united in force.

“The highlight for me was coming together with the PPTA as well as our kindergartens, and that just shows the force and the unity that we are fighting for together - it’s not just primary, it’s not just secondary - it’s the whole education sector.”

One group of Te Puke teachers attended a rally and march before returning to Te Puke in the afternoon to make their feelings known with placards alongside Jellicoe St. Colleagues had occupied the same spot in the morning, while other teachers had attended a rally in Pāpāmoa.

Robyn says judging by the responses of those passing, there is local support for teachers.

“Everyone that gave us the thumbs up and tooted - it just shows that they support our mahi and what we are standing up for.

“The consensus of our community was they were backing our stand and what we are fighting for and that was awesome to see.”

Robyn says it is too early to say what might happen next, but she hopes the Ministry of Education negotiating team will come back to teachers.

“We are hoping that our finance minister will open his purse strings a bit and invest more in our teachers and our schools for our tamariki and mokopuna.”

She says teachers trust Education Minister Jan Tinetti, who is a former principal of Merivale School in Tauranga.

“She knows what it’s like on the ground, she knows the stress of it all, of the kaiako and principals and management of schools. We trust her expertise and knowledge and that she’ll be able to address what we asking for - that’s the hope anyway.”

Robyn says teachers are wanting the ministry to address all the issues raised.

“It’s about the whole collective - from management of schools, the funding of schools and the teachers’ pay, to the children’s support, to the resourcing - it has to all come in as a package - that’s the outcome we hope we’ll see.”

Robyn also thanked the local community for supporting the strike.