Masterton teachers and school staff - some unpaid for months or on medication to combat stress - protested against the Novopay payroll system outside the electorate office of Wairarapa MP John Hayes yesterday morning.
A group of more than 20 teachers and support staff including two principals and all bar one of the fulltime staff from Solway Primary School, gathered with placards for about an hour from 7am outside the Queen St office of Mr Hayes.
New Zealand Educational Institute members, representing primary and intermediate teachers, picketed in a linked protest outside 35 National MPs' electorate offices the length of the country yesterday morning, including Education Minister Hekia Parata's office in Porirua.
The picket comes six months after the launch of the Novopay system, which has been plagued by issues, including underpayments and, in some cases, no payments at all.
Masterton protest spokeswoman Kim Burrows, St Patrick's School office manager, said there were two Masterton members in the group who had not been paid since December, another teacher who had endured wrong payments and payslips since the Novopay launch, and an office worker forced on to medication for stress brought about by the disastrous payroll system.
