Teachers in the NSW public education system will go on strike for 24 hours today, protesting poor pay conditions and staff shortages. It will be the first time in nearly a decade that teachers in the state have gone on strike.
Organisers of the strike are hoping to secure a 5% pay rise and two hours of additional lesson planning each week. Currently, the public sector wage cap limits teachers’ wage increases to 2.5% per year.
Last week, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission deemed the strike illegal. However, the New South Wales Teachers Federation has confirmed the strike will still go ahead. NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos said: “The teacher shortages are too large and their cause, uncompetitive salaries and unmanageable workloads, too great for teachers and principals not to proceed with this action.”
“I think our hardworking teachers have been led down the garden path by a union that just seems to be hellbent on disruption in a year that’s been hard enough on our kids and parents already” – NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell
