New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) president Mark Potter says he hopes another strike by teachers won't be needed.
Primary teachers are set to march alongside secondary and area school teachers in a day of strike action tomorrow. NZEI said it's a "combined workforce of 50,000".
Teachers are demanding better pay and working conditions, including immediate action on staffing numbers.
The Ministry of Education met with NZEI yesterday in a last minute bid to find an agreement. However, NZEI said no formal offer was tabled and it has asked the ministry to return to the negotiating table next week.
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Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Potter said teachers don't find it easy to strike, but it needs to be done in order to enforce change.
"If we don't do it, we don't make the point, we aren't going to get the change that we need and so what we will find is that there'll be ongoing problems for children in the future if we don't have the teacher workforce to support them."
He said teachers "really do" appreciate the support they are getting from parents.
"They know how hard their children's teachers and their children's principals and kindergarten teachers are working, our secondary school colleagues.
Mark Potter says teachers don't find it "easy" striking, but it has to be done to enforce change. (Source: Breakfast)
"They know that we need change, they know that they want the best education for their children, that can only happen if the teachers have the conditions that will give us the right recruitment and the right retention of teachers in the workforce."
Education Minister Jan Tinetti said yesterday she is "optimistic" a settlement will be reached with NZEI and the PPTA.
The ministry has previously said the offer NZEI members have so far rejected "provides significant increases".
Tinetti echoed those words yesterday but acknowledged teachers weren't just striking for better pay: "I think it's a generous offer. Having said that, it's not only about the money. It has been a really tough time for our teachers over the last few years with Covid and then starting off this year hasn't been easy for them as well in certain areas of the country, so we've got to take that into account as well and those are discussions that I've had ongoing."
Rallies and marches across the country will take place tomorrow. Around 50,000 people are expected to be involved in the action.
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