Central Otago school teachers joined one of the country’s largest public service strikes on Thursday (October 23), calling for greater learning support and better working conditions.

While warnings of wild weather cancelled picket lines in Cromwell and Alexandra, local teachers still walked off the job, joining tens of thousands of others across Aotearoa in the “mega strike”.

Goldfields School teacher Nic Hale said the strike was not primarily about pay.

“The pay is not why teachers are doing this - they’re doing it for the kids,” she said.

Nic described the rate of change and pressure in the sector right now as immense.

“Principals are overwhelmed, teachers are overwhelmed, and teaching assistants are overwhelmed,” she said.

“You just don’t know what you’re going to get in your day, and you walk away and you’re absolutely exhausted.

“That’s not fair and you can’t show up for the kids if you’re exhausted.”

As a local representative for NZEI Te Riu Roa, she pushed back at government ministers’ claims unions were politically motivated.

Earlier in the week, Public Service Minister Judith Collins said the collective action was “politically motivated by the unions”, while Education Minister Erica Stanford accused NZEI of “bullying its members”.

Nic rejected those comments.

“The union is the members…No decisions get made by the union - decisions get made by the members…We are the people making the decisions.”

She said the lack of progress on issues such as support for diverse learners was the strongest reason for the strike.

“We are only here because our issues are not being addressed.”

That view was echoed by Danella Smallridge, a new entrant teacher and team leader at Alexandra Primary School.

Danella said she is seeing “significant needs” among students but not the resourcing to match.

She said teaching demands passion and commitment from teachers, especially when many know they could earn more elsewhere with far less stress.

“When I first started teaching, my salary was less than what I left behind in the bank, even though I had just finished all these degrees,” she said. 

“It’s really hard work, and you have to be 100 per cent committed to do the best job you can.”

She said some of the recent public comments by ministers had felt like “a slap in the face”.

“Our parents value us, but the government - they don’t pay us.”

Doctors, dentists, nurses, social workers, and corrections staff also joined teachers in the nationwide industrial action.

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