Wagga teachers strike for better pay and conditions

Hundreds of Wagga teachers joined in statewide industrial action to fight for better pay and conditions.

About 300 public school teachers from the Wagga Wagga region joined thousands around NSW in taking industrial action on Wednesday as the tug-of-war between the NSW Teachers Federation and the state government continued.

The protesters met at the Wagga Showgrounds in Wagga, five months on from the last statewide rally.

The union has two key demands - it’s calling on the government to raise the 2.5 per cent wage cap on teachers’ salaries and it wants teachers allocated an extra two hours of “release time” to plan lessons.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said the state’s teachers had had enough.

“We have had teachers here from right across NSW,” he said.

“ Some teachers have woken up at 4.30 in the morning to get to this and of course there were many thousands more in regional centres across NSW.

“We know the teacher shortage is impacting everywhere across the state from Bondi to Broken Hill, but we also know the teacher shortage impacts first and most acutely in regional, rural and remote settings.

“This is about every kid, in every school, no matter where that is.”

The protesters met at the Wagga Showgrounds in Wagga, five months on from the last statewide rally. Picture: Patrick Morrow

Kristil-Rae-Mobbs a union member and co-ordinator of the event, said the government needed to address the workload issues that teachers were facing.
“Hand in hand the salary needs to match the four years we have gone to university, like other professions such as doctors,” she said.

She said as a relieving principal, it was sometimes impossible to get casual teachers, leaving her school short-staffed.

“I tried to get a casual teacher for six weeks in advance and there were no casual teachers available because of the shortage which means it is extremely hard to plan ahead,” she said.

Kristil-Rae-Mobbs, a union member and co-ordinator of the event, said the turnout was great. Picture: Patrick Morrow

The rally comes amidst dire teacher shortages with internal Department of Education figures revealing there are nearly 2400 casual vacancies across the state.

Wagga hasn’t been spared with the electorate having 37 casual vacancies, while neighbouring electorates of Albury, Cootamundra, Goulburn and Monaro had 212 vacancies between them.

The situation is at its worst in Barwon, in the state’s north west, with the electorate that includes Bourke and Broken Hill having 151 casual vacancies.

Robbie Gifford is a teacher from Yanco Agricultural high school, a boarding school 120km outside of Wagga.

“I moved out here from the Central Coast two years ago and it is the same teacher shortage which all regions are facing and it’s definitely a challenge for myself as a teacher,” he said.

“I striked last year and found it inspiring. The state government has been lying at the negotiation table and it is just offensive. We demand a better salary but also working conditions that are fit for all teachers.

“We don’t want to do this but we need disruption to get a message across.”

Robbie Gifford, head of maths at Yanco Agricultural High School. Picture: Patrick Morrow

Brenton George from Junee High School told the Wagga News: “I signed up to be a teacher to help students get successful outcomes, not to be an admin clerk.

“I am up for the fight to win the good fight in getting the right pay and better outcomes for teachers in the work space.”

Labor candidate for the Riverina Mark Jefferson also made an appearance at the rally.

“It is disappointing that the teachers have to strike, as somebody wanting to be the federal member of the Riverina, I understand these are important issues,” he said. “Teaching is a federal not just a state issue and I believe teachers should have better conditions as well as better wages.”

Labor candidate for the Riverina Mark Jefferson attended the rally.

Wednesday morning’s march ended at the Wagga showgrounds with the statewide strike to end at midnight.