Teacher claims fair, strike isn't: poll

Most parents say staff deserve a better deal, but stoppages go too far. Photo / Greg Bowker

Most parents of secondary students believe the Government should agree to at least some of their teachers' claims for a 4 per cent pay rise and smaller class sizes, according to a Weekend Herald readers' poll.

But a majority still disagree with the teachers' strike action.

A Nielsen Consumer Research non-scientific survey, conducted online for the Weekend Herald, asked nearly 400 parents of high school-aged children whether they agreed with the decision to strike.

More than half of the parents from the APN reader panel (comprising readers of the Weekend Herald, NZ Herald, Herald on Sunday, nzherald.co.nz, Listener, NZ Woman's Weekly and APN regional papers) said they "disagreed" or "strongly disagreed" with the rolling strikes, which will continue for the rest of the term.

Common themes among the third who "strongly disagreed" were that striking wasn't fair to the students, the economic climate wasn't right and there were other ways to advance the teachers' cause.

"They cause significant disruption to so many students during a very important time," said one parent. "I appreciate most teachers work very hard but there has to be another way to negotiate."

Said another: "It's not the right time. There are better ways to get the public supporting your case."

But the feeling among the 17.4 per cent of parents who "strongly agreed" with industrial action was that teachers were worth it and striking was the "only way to get action".

Only 10 per cent said the strikes, which kept more than 120,000 students home over two days this week, had affected daily routines.

When parents were asked if the Government should agree to a 4 per cent pay rise and restricted class sizes of no more than 26 per cent, an overwhelming majority backed teachers.

Nearly a third said the Government should agree to both terms, while just over a half said it should agree to some of the terms.

"I'd like to see [Education Minister] Anne Tolley in front of a class of 35 fifth formers every day," said one of the parents who supported all of the terms. "Frankly they should be getting 10 per cent and the class sizes should be 20 children."

The parents who said the Government should agree to only some of the terms tended to support smaller class sizes but felt the pay rise, if there was one, should not be so high.

Post Primary Teachers Association president Kate Gainsford said the poll findings were not surprising and matched some of the feedback the association was getting.

Ms Tolley would say only that she wanted to see "this issue resolved as soon as possible" and the best way to do that was at the bargaining table.

READERS' POLL
We asked 374 parents of college-aged children

Do you agree or disagree with the secondary teachers' decision to strike?

* Disagree: 54.5%
(Strongly disagree 29.9%, Disagree 24.6%)

* Agree: 38.8%
(Agree 21.4%, Strongly agree 17.4%)

* Neither agree nor disagree 6.7%

Teachers are asking for a 4% payrise and an average class size of no more than 26 students. Should the Government agree to these terms?

* Yes (to all) 27.3%

* Yes (to some) 55.1%

* No 15.8%

* Don't know 1.9%

How will the strike affect your daily routine?

* Not at all 57%

* A little 32.4%

* A lot 10.7%

Source: Nielsen survey of 374 APN readers with college-aged children.