Christchurch teachers strike as part of nationwide action

More than 1800 secondary and area school teachers will strike on Thursday in protest at the lack of progress in their collective agreement negotiations. 

PPTA Canterbury region chairperson Thomas Newton said the union had been in negotiations with the Ministry of Education since May last year. 

“Sadly we have made little progress on some of our key claims.

We are facing a worsening shortage of subject specialist teachers in our schools.

Subject specialist teachers are in a highly competitive market because they can work in other professions. For the sake of our rangatahi secondary teaching needs to be a first choice career.”

Newton said “we need a collective agreement with pay rates and conditions that will keep teachers in the profession, attract graduates into teaching and encourage ex-teachers to return to the job they love.”

“Key things secondary teachers wanted in a new collective agreement were a salary increase that matched the cost of living, more guidance staff to work with students in need and some effective controls on workload. 

“The Government is responsible for ensuring that every young person in New Zealand has the opportunity to live their best life by having a quality secondary education – one which gives them the skills and qualifications they need to form a firm foundation for the future. “

“We urge the Government to take its responsibility seriously - invest in teachers, invest in New Zealand.” 

On Thursday Canterbury PPTA members will join with NZEI from 11:00am at Victoria Square, Christchurch City, to demonstrate their collective voice before marching to the Ministry of Education on Hereford St.