‘Frustrated’ teachers strike at Blenheim’s Seymour Square following ‘pathetic’ offer from Government

“Frustrated” Marlborough teachers that aren’t  “asking for much” have once again come out to strike, with some describing a last-minute pay offer from the Government as “pathetic”.

The teachers gathered at Seymour Square on Tuesday morning, as part of a rolling, regional, strike across the motu. It comes as the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) continues to try to reach a settlement for wages that match inflation and certain conditions, such as the increasing numbers of students who are struggling with mental health and societal issues.

Dr Michael Harvey, PPTA Te Wehengarua Marlborough chairperson, said a last-minute offer from the Ministry of Education on Monday night – about 12 hours out from when the strike began – was “insufficient”.

The PPTA had said the offer still sat below the cost of living increase.

“We are just looking for a decent offer. We want fair pay, for fair work, because if we want to retain teachers, we need to pay them a decent wage,” Harvey said.

“To have a functional democracy, we need an educated electorate. That's our role. We inform. We allow students to grow and become who they are.

He said he was frustrated and wanted to be in the classroom.

“I've got a lot of assessments that I would like to get through with the students, which I can't do.

“But we need to get through this now, otherwise it's going to be an ongoing problem.”

Marlborough secondary school computer science teacher Ngaire Searle said teachers were not “asking for much”.

“We're not attracting people into the profession, basically people can't cope when they're not even getting a cost of living increase,” Searle said.

“We've been in negotiation for 18 months, and nothing has happened. Absolutely nothing.”

Searle described the last minute offer from the Ministry of Education as “pathetic” and said it was interesting to see the Defence Force had been given a “substantial increase” for exactly the same reasons teachers were asking for.

This came after Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Monday announced a $400 million boost to defence personnel’s wages in the coming four years.

“We provide pathways for students,” Searle said.

“I teach digital technology ... there are so many jobs that can merge from the computer science field, that students aren't even aware of as they take the subject.

“If I wasn't there teaching it, or someone like me was not teaching it, then how would students ever find out about that?”

Simon Curnow, Marlborough Girls' College curriculum leader for languages and PPTA member, also said the Government’s offer was pathetic.

“It hasn't really improved since the original offer. All we're asking for here is the cost of living,” Curnow said.

“And some of the conditions are pretty important, because there are areas in our schools where the conditions aren't great, such as with part-timers.”

He said the Government “needed to consider” the future generations.

“We have a low wage economy currently, we need to upskill, we have subject specialists in the secondary area to produce the workers who can provide us for a high-skill, high-wage economy.

“It's providing the glue in society, and it's really important that we have that glue that helps us stick together, so they become good citizens that meet the diverse needs of the country.

“We have a number of teachers who have left the profession who are not at retirement age. They would come back if the conditions were attractive, but they're not.

“They move out of teaching, and they move into other jobs.”

A recent teaching survey found 24% of advertised teacher positions had no suitable applicants and 28% had only one. Around one-third of advertised jobs could not be filled.

PPTA members also held a strike earlier on March 16 and March 29. Teachers in the North Island are expected to strike on Thursday.

Kindergarten and primary school teachers did not join the strike action.

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