You may have heard that at Paid Union Meetings last month, primary principals and teachers voted overwhelmingly to reject the Ministry of Education’s pay offer, as it did not address workload issues, extra learning support or ways to stem the growing crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers.

At those meetings teachers and principals voted to hold strike action on Wednesday 15 August from 1.30pm. Many members felt that this action did not go far enough to show the Government the seriousness of the workload and under-funding we face in our schools.

There was a strong groundswell for the strike action to run for the entire day, and NZEI Te Riu Roa is now undertaking consultation with the membership on this possibility.

Our school Board of Trustees have decided to close the school during strike action and to support the concerns of teachers and principals. 

We appreciate the inconvenience of strike action on families, and our member teachers do not take the decision lightly. Primary teachers have not taken industrial action in New Zealand since 1994 and the fact that we are taking such a step shows the grave concerns we have for the future of quality public education if courageous steps are not taken now. The main areas of concern are high workload issues, lack of support for students with additional learning and behavioural needs, and undervaluing of the teaching profession which has led to a crisis in recruitment and retention of teachers and principals.

Please come and have a chat with me if you’d like to know more.