HUNTER public and Catholic school teachers have combined forces and will participate in a joint strike on Thursday June 30, calling for better pay and conditions.
NSW Teachers Federation regional organiser Jack Galvin Waight and Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT branch Newcastle organiser Therese Fitzgibbon said the unions' joint campaign spoke to the size of the crisis facing the profession.
Advertisement
RELATED
"Today is a historic day, for the first time in our history we stand as one, one voice, we're a profession in crisis and subsequently we need to take this action," Mr Galvin Waight said. "The Premier is failing our students, he's failing our profession, if we don't act now, the teacher crisis and the teacher shortages will continue to affect our students."
The Hunter's independent schools will be the only ones fully operational next Thursday, when public and Catholic school teachers will rally at Civic Park, before marching to the state government offices on Bull Street.
The announcement of the joint strike comes a week after the unions said they were giving Premier Dominic Perrottet seven days to address pay and conditions in the budget.
The government's two-year wages policy will give public sector workers a three per cent increase per annum in 2022-23 and 2023-24, with a possible further 0.5 per cent next year for those who contribute to 'productivity enhancing reforms'.
Teachers want annual increases of between five and 7.5 per cent.
Each union has held their own strike in recent months.
More to come
Helen Gregory
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting in 2015.
Helen Gregory joined the Newcastle Herald in 2010. She is the masthead’s education reporter and has written for the H2 and Weekender sections, as well as across a range of issues. Helen is a Walkley Award winning journalist and was also part of the Newcastle Herald team that won the United Nations World Environment Day Media Award for Environmental Reporting in 2015.
