Teachers to strike and rally here in national action

File picture

Gisborne primary and intermediate school principals and teachers will strike tomorrow to send a message to the Government that they are not satisfied with the offer on the table.

This is part of a nationwide strike that started in Auckland today and rolls out across the country this week.

Poverty Bay Branch NZEI president Jonathan Poole says the offer doesn’t address the big issues that have been brought up — work conditions, class size, the amount of release time teachers get, retention and recruitment of teachers.

NZEI executive member and Wainui Beach School teacher Claire Scott said “we want to continue to get our message heard — the Government isn’t hearing what we’re trying to say”.

More than 400 teachers and registered members of NZEI Te Riu Roa will meet at the Gisborne War Memorial Theatre at 10.30am tomorrow to discuss the Ministry of Education’s latest offer.

Last-ditch negotiations last week, which yielded an improved pay offer from the ministry, were not enough to avert the industrial action, which follows a national strike in August and the rejection of a second offer last month.

After the meeting the teachers will split into groups and rally at visible locations across the central city before coming together at Kelvin Park at 12.30pm.

Ms Scott said the workload for teachers was too much.

“We don’t have enough support for students who need it.

“We need to be given the time to teach and principals need the time to lead.

“The Government needs to acknowledge we have a huge teacher crisis across New Zealand that isn’t getting better and needs to be addressed.”

Parents generally supported the strike and agreed with what they were fighting for, so did not mind making other arrangements for child care for one day, she said.

The Employment Relations Authority has slammed the teacher union’s pay demands as “totally unrealistic” and is urging teachers to take the Government’s offer.