Rolling strikes this week for secondary teachers
After an “overwhelming” vote to reject the latest Government offer, secondary school teachers will begin strikes this week.
Strikes for secondary teachers represented by PPTA Te Wehengarua begin today (Monday 15 September) with union members refusing to teach, instruct, or supervise Year 12s and 13s.
The strikes continue across the week, with Year 11s on Tuesday, Year 10s on Wednesday and Year 9s on Thursday.
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The partial strike comes in response to members’ rejection of the latest pay offer from the Government, which the union says falls short of their needs.
“Teachers are sending a clear message to the Government that we want a collective agreement offer that meets the needs of teachers and students,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua president.
“We are looking for an offer that will help address the issues at the heart of our collective agreement claims: the need for more pastoral care staffing to give proper time and attention to increasing numbers of students with additional needs, and the need for our pay and conditions to be able to attract people into the profession and keep teachers in the job.
Abercrombie says secondary teachers are facing “once in a generation changes to the secondary school curriculum and qualifications system,” which means staffing shortages should be urgently addressed.
“We are currently short of about 800 teachers at least, because they are leaving either for better pay in Australia, or for better pay and conditions in other careers here in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Teachers don’t take this action lightly and would much rather be continuing to teach in a settled environment,” Abercrombie said.
“However, our collective agreement negotiations are a crucial way to get pressing teaching and learning issues addressed so we really need the Government to acknowledge our concerns and commit to finding effective and meaningful solutions.”
Related School News story: New collective offer for teachers put to vote
Public service commissioner Sir Brian Roche urged the union to engage with negotiations rather than escalation.
“Industrial action affects not only classrooms, but also the overall well-being of students and working parents,” said Roche.
He argued the offer “was a good one” and that “in difficult economic times, pay settlements must be affordable and responsible.”
This is the second industrial action PPTA members have taken during negotiations, with teachers joining public sector colleagues represented by the PSA on picket lines last month.
Related School News story: New campaign aims to lift the mana of teachers
