NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Mum's strike lesson for her daughter: 'She is going to learn that fairness goes beyond sharing toys'

By Linda Stewart
NZ Herald·
28 May, 2019 05:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Linda Stewart says her 6-year-old daughter Eliana's education will not be disrupted by today's strike because she will learn a lesson about fairness. Photo / Dean Purcell

Linda Stewart says her 6-year-old daughter Eliana's education will not be disrupted by today's strike because she will learn a lesson about fairness. Photo / Dean Purcell

Opinion

COMMENT: Onehunga mother Linda Stewart responds to Ministry of Education deputy secretary Ellen MacGregor-Reid's statements that the teachers' strike would "disrupt" children's education and "inconvenience" parents.

Dear Ms MacGregor-Reid,

Thank you for the concern you expressed for parents in the New Zealand Herald article dated May 26, 2019, regarding the upcoming teachers' strike. I appreciate that you are concerned that children's learning will be disrupted and families and employers will be not only inconvenienced, but significantly inconvenienced, by the planned strike action.

I have a somewhat different view of the strike action. My child's learning is not going to be disrupted nor do I view her day off school, while her underpaid, overworked teachers strike, as an inconvenience.

On the day of the strike my daughter will continue to learn as she does every day.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She is going to learn that large numbers of people value her teachers and her education.

She is going to learn that people can and must speak out and take action when they want change.

She is going to be learning what a march is.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She is going to learn lots of new words when she reads the signs. I'm looking forward to explaining those to her.

She asks a lot of questions and I am going to be answering them.

Discover more

New Zealand|education

Mega teachers' strike: All you need to know

19 May 10:00 AM
New Zealand|education

Mega-strike: Teachers break down in tears over workloads

19 May 06:29 AM
New Zealand|education

Low-income parents back higher teacher pay

26 May 05:46 AM
New Zealand|politics

Teachers' mega-strike: What to do with your kids today

28 May 05:00 PM

She is going to learn that fairness goes beyond sharing toys and cutting the cake into equal pieces.

I'm pretty sure there is a classroom-worthy lesson in there somewhere.

It's a pity that the same level of concern is not being shown for the disruptions to learning that are happening in our schools every day.

The disruptions to learning for the children with additional needs and their classmates because they aren't getting the support they require to succeed.

The disruptions for the children who are farmed out to other classes because their teacher is away sick and there are no relievers.

The disruptions for the children who have no permanent teacher and are faced with constantly changing relievers.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The disruptions to the personal lives of our teachers. These are disruptions worthy of concern.

Ellen MacGregor-Reid, Ministry of Education Deputy Secretary Early Learning and Student Achievement. Photo / Supplied
Ellen MacGregor-Reid, Ministry of Education Deputy Secretary Early Learning and Student Achievement. Photo / Supplied

Running out of coffee is a bigger inconvenience to me than the strike. There are some things I am inconvenienced by though. I am inconvenienced by the lack of funding for support staff in our schools.

I am inconvenienced by the teacher shortage.

I am inconvenienced by our education system breaking down.

I am inconvenienced by our teachers breaking down.

And I am going to be significantly inconvenienced when in five or 10 years' time the best of our current teachers are no longer in our schools. The whole country is going to be inconvenienced by that.

I can't give an employer's perspective as I'm not one. But I will say that a day of inconvenience doesn't seem a very high price to pay to ensure that future employees are given the best education and chance of success possible.

Onehunga mother Linda Stewart (left), who has written an open letter supporting the teachers' strike, with her husband Glenn Stewart and their daughter Eliana Stewart, aged 6. Photo / Supplied
Onehunga mother Linda Stewart (left), who has written an open letter supporting the teachers' strike, with her husband Glenn Stewart and their daughter Eliana Stewart, aged 6. Photo / Supplied

I suspect that the people who are going to be most inconvenienced by the strike will be the teachers themselves when they receive their next pay packet and it's short a whole day's pay, especially when most of them have still put in a full 40 hours or more.

I agree with you that the strike is not a solution. What the Government is offering is not a solution either. It is the equivalent of putting a sticking plaster on a broken leg. A solution would be improving the offer that has been made to teachers.

I hope your concerns about learning, families and employers on the day of the strike have been eased. Please feel free to join "I Back The Teachers" on Facebook where the wider community is getting behind our amazing teachers.

It's time for us all to focus on solutions to improve the learning conditions for our children and the working conditions for our teachers.

For the sake of our children.

For the sake of our teachers.

For the sake of us all.

Kind regards,

Linda Stewart

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Brazen hammer heist: Police hunt jewel thief, staff distressed after store raid

05 Jul 05:11 AM
New ZealandUpdated

Teen claims Air NZ ghosts her after storm-diverted plane lands at ‘dead’ US airport at 2am

05 Jul 04:40 AM
New Zealand

Afternoon quiz: What is the main cause of coral bleaching?

05 Jul 03:57 AM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Brazen hammer heist: Police hunt jewel thief, staff distressed after store raid

Brazen hammer heist: Police hunt jewel thief, staff distressed after store raid

05 Jul 05:11 AM

Alleged thief entered before 1pm and then fled the scene in a vehicle after the heist.

Teen claims Air NZ ghosts her after storm-diverted plane lands at ‘dead’ US airport at 2am

Teen claims Air NZ ghosts her after storm-diverted plane lands at ‘dead’ US airport at 2am

05 Jul 04:40 AM
Afternoon quiz: What is the main cause of coral bleaching?

Afternoon quiz: What is the main cause of coral bleaching?

05 Jul 03:57 AM
Boatie takes speedboat out during PioPio and Te Kūiti flood

Boatie takes speedboat out during PioPio and Te Kūiti flood

From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP