Whanganui primary school teachers went on strike twice last year and will join with secondary teachers in the nationwide strike on Wednesday. Photo / Stuart Munro
Whanganui primary school teachers went on strike twice last year and will join with secondary teachers in the nationwide strike on Wednesday. Photo / Stuart Munro
Whanganui schools will close as teachers join a landmark nationwide strike - the biggest in the country's history.
For the first time unions representing both primary and secondary teachers - the Post-Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) and the NZ Educational Institute (NZEI) - will join forces to strike on Wednesday.
Whanganui teachers will gather in Majestic Square from 8.45am before marching up Victoria Ave and while some will travel to join a large rally in Palmerston North, others will continue their protests in Whanganui.
"We've been backed into a corner," NZEI field worker Graeme Whitworth said.
The dispute is over multiple conditions such as pay, non-contact time and class sizes.
"The Ministry of Education is simply not offering adequate solutions to problems teachers are facing and the profession has been losing too many good people."
Primary teachers took strike action in August and November last year without the hoped-for responses from Government and it is anticipated the combined "mega-strike" with PPTA will deliver a stronger message.
The ministry has offered both unions pay rises of 3 per cent a year for three years plus an extra step at the top of their pay scales which would bring the total pay rise to 12.6 per cent over three years for a majority of teachers.
Although the Employment Relations Authority has agreed to hold urgent talks over the teachers' pay claims, both unions have voted to go ahead with the strike saying it is about more than just wages.
St Anne's School teacher and Whanganui NZEI representative Halim Sheridan said teachers were becoming increasingly exhausted by their workloads and conditions.
He said primary teachers are paid for one hour of non-contact time each week and they want that doubled.
They also want reduced class sizes, more resource teachers and a special needs co-ordinator (Senco) in every school.
The Ministry has offered an extra 15 minutes non-contact time for the next three years and wants to resolve other concerns outside of an industrial disputes process.
"These problems have been going on for too long," Sheridan said.
"The crisis is now and we need to act now for the future of our kids' education."
Sheridan did not accept the Government's excuse that teachers' demands are unaffordable.
"It is an economic fallacy to say it is unaffordable - it's an investment in everyone's future."
Whanganui Girls' College teacher and PPTA chairwoman Kijiana Pene said she always wanted to be a teacher while growing up.
Whanganui teachers union representatives Halim Sheridan and Kijiana Pene say the decision for nationwide strike action has not been made lightly. Photos / Bevan Conley
"I don't hear that from my students now," she said.
"People are staying out of the profession for a reason and it is a perception that the work is stressful and poorly paid."
The PPTA is also seeking an extra hour of non-classroom time for secondary teachers, which would extend their non-contact time from five hours to six hours a week.
Pene has recently been working on a school production which takes her well above those hours.
After four years teaching, she is still living week-to-week while paying off her student loan.
The starting salary for a secondary teacher with a degree and a teaching diploma is $51,200 and the ministry is offering to lift it to $55,948.
"I have friends in other professions with smaller loans earning far more than I do and I have seen people I trained with taking on other careers or teaching outside New Zealand."
Pene and Sheridan both said the strike action has been a difficult decision for teachers and disrupting their students' education is a drastic measure.
"Of course we would rather be with our kids," Sheridan said.
"We love teaching which is why we keep doing it but New Zealand education is in crisis and if we don't take a stand now it will only get worse."
Education Minister Chris Hipkins told the NZ Herald the Government's offer to boost teachers' salaries to the tune of $1.2 billion over four years would put them into the "top 20 per cent of New Zealand income earners".
"I think that's a sign that this Government does take teachers seriously, we do really value the work that they are doing, we're willing to offer them quite hefty pay rises, pay rises that will put them into the top brackets of income earners," Hipkins said.
However, Whanganui teacher representatives say the offer on the table is not adequate and they will join an estimated 50,000 striking teachers on Wednesday.
