Striking secondary teachers say the Government’s pay offer is despicable.
At pickets around the country, members of the Post Primary Teachers Association told RNZ they were frustrated and disappointed.
The one-day strike is because of pay talks stalled over a Governmentoffer of a 1% rise each year for three years, and a doubling of the number of days teachers can be called back to work when schools are closed.
The Government is urging the PPTA to come back to negotiations.
Teachers say the offer is below inflation and makes it hard to recruit and retain staff. Photo / Alyse Wright
At Wellington Railway Station, Wellington Girls’ College teacher Anna Scadden said she was disappointed by the Government’s “really, really low pay offer”, especially when the Government was changing the curriculum and the secondary school qualification system.
“It’s a pretty despicable acknowledgement of our expertise. They can’t expect us to implement new educational reform under an effective pay cut,” she said.
“Regardless of whether people think we’re paid too much, paid too little, get too many holidays, we don’t have enough us.”
Another Wellington protester described the 1% offer as insulting saying it was well below inflation and effectively a cut to teachers’ pay.
Another man said such a low offer made it very difficult to encourage people to become teachers.
The Post Primary Teachers Association warns of further action if a better offer isn't made. Photo / Alyse Wright
“We just want to be appreciated in the work that we do, we’re just trying to support our tamariki and we want the best outcome for them and the best outcome is teachers that feel supported in their spaces,” a woman protesting in Wellington said.
In Christchurch, teacher Marcelle Leo’o said the Government was trying to paint teachers as villains.
“We’re the ones that are actually out there, teaching, caring, loving our tamariki, past and present, and yet we’re the ones that are painted with the black paint. So I really don’t understand where this Government is coming from, we’re fighting for a reason and it’s not just money, it’s a system that is going to be supportive of our tamariki.”
Leo’o said teachers were leaving the profession in droves.
“We put in an application for funding to help with mental health awareness for our students, that was declined and now we’re also psychologists, we’re doing jobs that we’re not specifically trained to do - therefore we’re under stress.”
Nationwide teacher strike as pay talks with Govt stall. Photo / Alyse Wright
Leo’o said she felt like she had to choose between her job and her family.
Another Christchurch protester said he would rather be in the classroom than striking and taking a day’s pay cut to stand in the cold.
“We want the government to be on our side but that’s just not what it seems like at the moment. So we’re sorry but we’ve got to do this for the students today and the students in 10 years from now.”
The PPTA said if the Government did not come up with a better offer, from next month its members would start refusing to teach different year levels on different days – action known as rostering home.
In West Auckland, about 70 people protested in Henderson. An RNZ reporter on the scene said they received a lot of support with tooting from passersby. A police car and ambulance also showed their support by blaring their sirens as they drove past.
One protester, who declined to be named, said her sign “I can’t afford daycare for my dog” said it all.
