On Wednesday 29th May the teachers and principal will be going on strike. This is due to the profession's collective dissatisfaction with the current offer on the table from the Ministry of Education.

New Zealand's first mega teacher strike is confirmed for next Wednesday May 29th. This means both primary and secondary teachers across the country will be on strike.

On this day Shotover Primary School will be closed. You will need to keep your children at home. Please note this is a full day strike.

Teachers sign up to a vocation, a career where the energy and motivation for performing does not come from making money. Having said that, anyone needs a reasonable income in order to maintain a reasonable quality of life. In my opinion through successive contract negotiations and from governments of different stripe the income levels of teachers have shrunk in real terms and this needs to be addressed. This is even more of a concern in our area where the cost of living is much higher than the national average. Teachers don’t take this action lightly and this is certainly true of the Shotover teaching team. However governments can’t only use words to indicate that teachers are critical to the future success of this fine country, that must be followed with money to adequately resource the system including the workforce.

If you have any questions with regards to this action or the general contract negotiation then please get in touch.

Evelyn Aurik

Acting Principal