Primary and secondary school teachers are preparing to go on strike over a pay dispute with the government. The strike is second time Primary and Secondary school teachers have gone on strike at the same time.
Parents appear to have mixed views about the prospect of a one-day mega-strike by 50,000 school and kindergarten teachers closing hundreds of schools next week.
Members of the Post Primary Teachers Association and the Educational Institute said the Education Ministry’s offer of a $6000 pay rise over two years was not good enough and they would strike on Thursday.
They warned teachers were burnt out and needed pay and conditions that would keep them in the job and attract others to the profession.
Primary and secondary school teachers have struck on the same day only once before, in May 2019, when they enjoyed a high-level of public support and closed about half of the country’s schools.
This year’s strike comes after three years of pandemic-driven disruptions and soon after cyclone-related school closures in parts of the North Island.
The unions said schools in cyclone-damaged regions could opt out.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins – the former education minister – said he wanted teachers to call off their strike.
