Teachers across NSW will go on a "history making" strike next week in retaliation for a budget which they say failed to address a school system in a "dire situation".
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The members of the NSW Teachers Federation - representing public schools - and the Independent Education Union of Australia - representing catholic schools - will go on a joint 24 hour strike next Thursday June 30.
This will be the first time all teachers have come together since the 1990s and they're doing so after what they see as an effective pay cut offered to them in the NSW budget.
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The government announced its new public sector wage policy in early June, which would see teachers get a 3 per cent wage rise per year for the next two years, but with inflation hovering at 5.1 per cent, the unions said that their members are being left behind.
And they argue that by failing to increase teacher pay, the current teacher shortage is being exacerbated.
"We did have a hope that the NSW budget would have held more than 3 per cent for public servants," said IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam.
"This teacher shortage has been coming for some years, the 11 catholic dioceses across NSW and the ACT would tell you that they're predicting a 15 per cent teacher shortfall by 2030. That's not far off. Your readers should realise that's about 4000 teachers."
"It's really a dire situation ... the decision [to strike] is not taken lightly. They're on their knees in schools."
This will be the third teachers strike to take place this year, as teachers across the sector continue to decry what they see as crippling workloads and poor educational outcomes due to uncompetitive salaries.
NSW Teachers Federation Riverina organiser Bretti Bertalli said teachers feel "gutted" and "completely abandoned" by the actions of the state government.
"On average it equates to $3000 pay cut, on average per annum for the next couple of years, a pay cut is not going to attract people to the profession.
"Interest rates are currently at 5.1 per cent, and it's predicted they will increase well above that ... clearly teachers will not stand for that because it will impact negatively on the education of children.
"We have teachers who are teaching up to 60, 70 kids in [libraries] today beecause there are no teachers."
Asked about how often the unions are willing to undertake industrial action to achieve their aims, while disrupting schools across the state, Mr Bertali was unequivocal.
"For as long as it takes. And forever more ... Quite frankly we'll keep pressuring the government to do what's right for children because we care for kids," he said.
Wagga teachers association president Michelle McKelvie said that this is the worst teacher shortage Wagga has ever faced.
Ms McKelvie said union data shows that teachers are working on average 60.1 hours a week, and the budget did nothing to remunerate teachers adequately for those hours.
"We are trying so hard to attract and retain teachers ... I know for many young teachers, they can't see a career [in teaching] and that's why they're finding other careers."
The Director of Catholic Education Ross Fox agreed that their teachers deserve a pay rise, but said a strike will be disruptive to schools.
"We respect our teachers' right to take industrial action. We view today's decision as disappointing, given the further disruption it will cause to our students, parents, and school communities as we approach the end of term 2," he said.
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