Seventy teachers protest in Blenheim's Market Place
By Simon Wong and Fairfax - The Marlborough Express
Striking teachers plan to escalate protest action if their demands are not met, by refusing to teach entire year levels of pupils on certain days.
It would force thousands of children at particular grades to stay at home intermittently from next term, just weeks before their final examinations.
There are also calls for teachers to prepare for further strikes and other forms of protest action as their union flexes its muscle in a worsening industrial standoff with the Government.
But Education Minister Anne Tolley warns that senior pupils studying towards the National Certificate of Educational Achievement will be disadvantaged by further industrial action, putting assessment results at risk.
About 70 teachers from Marlborough Boys' College, Marlborough Girls' College and Queen Charlotte College and students gathered in Market Place, Blenheim, yesterday wearing black and red badges and waving PPTA flags to deliver a letter to Kaikoura MP Colin King, who was not in his Blenheim office.
The ministry had suspended striking teachers for the day and Marlborough PPTA representatives Peter Kemp and Dan Searle thanked those who chose to strike for giving up a day's pay.
The suspension was a spiteful move by the ministry and meant striking teachers who went back to school to mark work would technically be trespassing, Mr Kemp said.
PPTA teachers voted to strike last month, after opting to stop pay and contract talks with the Ministry of Education.
They want a 4 per cent pay rise, while the Government is offering 1.5 per cent, plus 1 per cent a year after settlement.
They are also seeking a raft of condition changes, including laptops, caps on class sizes, more professional development, an extra 1 per cent KiwiSaver employer contribution, and immunisation against contagious diseases.
Mr Kemp said the pay rise they sought met the expected level of inflation over the next two years.
The Government agreed to cap class sizes, but only if no extra cost was involved, he said.
Marlborough young and new teacher network representative Claire van Boxel said the conditions sought by the PPTA were aimed at staff retention and improving the quality of teaching and would benefit both students and teachers.
Ms Tolley said the strike achieved "nothing other than disruption". She urged the union to return to the bargaining table.
Further strikes or rostering home of entire year levels would cause huge unrest and uncertainty for pupils, she said.
"It could affect their NCEA assessment and exams. They become the victims in all this."
Students spoken to at the rally in Blenheim supported their teachers and the action of the PPTA.
Boys' college student Matt Threadwell said students' learning would be "hindered" if teachers were unhappy.
"If the teachers are unhappy, they won't be able to teach us to the best of their ability," he said.
Boys' college student Isaac Hales said smaller class numbers would mean more one-on-one time with teachers, especially in art subjects where teacher input was important.
Canterbury's 1800 PPTA members were exempted from yesterday's strike because of the September 4 earthquake.
It was the first PPTA strike in eight years.
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