“82% [of teachers] say shortages are leading to higher teacher workloads at their school,” according to Unions NSW.
Teachers around the state will protest the government’s three per cent pay rise, arguing that it’s not enough to combat the teaching crisis.
Staff shortages are plaguing the NSW education system with not enough people coming into the industry over low wages.
After the state government handed down its budget yesterday the NSW Teachers Federation and the Independent Education Union of Australia said that a three per cent pay rise won’t do anything, especially when inflation is over five per cent.
Next Thursday both unions will join forces to see public and catholic school teachers take to the streets to demand a change.
“Both unions have come to the conclusion that the Government has its head in the sand in regards to the teacher crisis,” said NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos.
“Acting on uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads is the only way to stop more teachers leaving and attract the people into the profession we need to fix the shortages.
According to Unions NSW over 73 per cent of teachers say their workload is too much to handles while a staggering 90 per cent believe they aren’t being paid enough.
NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell commented on the inconvenience of the forthcoming strike.
“I think it’s really disappointing that the education unions have made the decision to once again take industrial action on the 30th of June. It’s incredibly disruptive for families [and] students.
“We’ve said many times as a government that we want to work constructively with the union to sit down and negotiate your award.”
This strike will be the first time these two unions have come together but it isn’t the first time this year NSW teachers have gone on strike.
Back in May teachers demanded a 5-7.5 per cent wage increase, while they also called for reduced administration duties and an additional two hours of lesson planning a week.
