Secondary school teachers will strike 11 times in the next two months.
Teachers will be striking from tomorrow, with different year levels rostered home on different days through May and June.
As well as the year-level rostered strikes, there will be strikes that affect all secondary year levels on different days in different regions, starting in the country’s south and moving north.
The Wellington and Wairarapa regional strike will take place on Wednesday, May 10.
The strikes are due to the Post-Primary Teachers Association [PPTA] still being locked in negotiations with the Ministry of Education [MoE] over teachers’ working conditions.
Hundreds of Wairarapa teachers joined in two national strikes in March.
Even after months of negotiations and strike actions, PPTA negotiator Kieran Gainsford said progress has been too slow.
“We would much prefer to be beginning the term in a settled environment, but after 11 months of negotiations, we haven’t been able to make satisfactory progress on some major issues,” he said.
“There is a worsening shortage of secondary teachers, and we need salary rates and conditions that will keep teachers in the classroom, attract graduates to choose secondary teaching as a career, and encourage former teachers to return to the job they love.”
The Employment Relations Authority has been called in to facilitate the negotiations.
Which years and which days
The dates on which different year levels are rostered home:
Thursday 4 May – Year 11
Tuesday 9 May – Year 12
Wednesday 10 May – all year levels [Wairarapa regional strike]
Thursday 11 May – Year 13
Tuesday 16 May – Year 9
Wednesday 17 May – Year 10
Thursday 25 May – Year 11
Tuesday 30 May – Year 13
Thursday 1 June – Year 12
Tuesday 6 June – Year 10
Thursday 8 June – Year 9
