‘Insulting’: Teachers slam politicians getting wage boosts as gov launches court action

The NSW teachers union is being hit with legal action by the Education Department after last month’s strikes, but educators say they will continue their campaign.

The NSW government has launched legal action against the public school teachers union calling for fines after massive strikes shut down schools across the state.

But teachers are warning of more industrial action, saying the profession is at breaking point while politicians hand themselves handsome pay rises.

The Industrial Relations Commission, in November 2021, ordered the NSW Teachers Federation to stop organising strikes for higher wages and better conditions as part of the “More Than Thanks” campaign.

Despite that, the union called on teachers to walk out of school on December 7, 2021, and gather outside NSW Parliament in protest.

The union was fined $30,000 for the unauthorised action.

The May 4 strike in Sydney is now the subject of legal action by the Secretary for the Education Department. Picture: Jenny Evans

The Secretary of the Department of Education, in court documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph, alleges the union organised a second statewide strike days after the fine was handed down in March 2022.

The union told tens of thousands of teachers to walk out of school on May 4, the court documents say.

Teachers on strike meet at Hyde Park then March onto Parliament House for speeches. Picture: John Grainge

At the time the union said teachers were left “with no alternative but to act in the interests of our students and our profession” and called for every teacher in every school to protest to “demand an end to unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries”.

The government now wants the NSW Supreme Court to hit the union with another fine, but does not specify an amount.

The Education Department secretary’s court summons alleges 45,611 members of the union, or 71 per cent of the teaching workforce, walked out on May 4 in contravention of the IRC ban.

Almost 90 per cent of students did not go to school, the document claims.

NSW Teachers Federation President Angelo Gavrielatos said the government was not willing to deal with the substance of the ongoing dispute and just wanted to silence teachers.

“Rather than dealing with the teacher shortage and its underlying cause, uncompetitive salaries and crippling workloads, the only action the Government and its department appears to be willing to take is action aimed at silencing teachers and principals, including legal action,” he said in a statement this week.

Teachers were told, in the days around the May strike, they could walk out of school if any members of the NSW Perrottet government visited their schools.

The Secretary’s court document alleges dozens of teachers walking out of schools in Sydney, Bellingen and the Central Coast when Education Minister Sarah Mitchell MLC and other politicians arrived to visit during the week of the strike.

The document alleges 48 teachers walked out of five Central Coast schools when the Education Minister visited Terrigal High School on May 5 alone.

That was 60 per cent of the work force, the document states.

“Politicians give themselves lucrative pay rises for inflation while neglecting the already stretched public sector - how do they expect us to greet them?” one teacher from the region told The Daily Telegraph.

The public school NSW Teachers Federation, on Tuesday, said it would hold a historic joint meeting with the independent Education Union, which represents Catholic and private school teachers, on June 21.

“The profession is at breaking point. Staff shortages and sinking salaries mean teachers and support staff are really struggling,” an IEU statement reads.

The unions called the Perrottet’s government’s plan to raise public sector wages by 2.5 to 3 per cent “insulting”.

Another teacher, who walked out on another politician in May, said the “disrespect” meted out by the government and some parts of the public is making it harder for the students.

A sign held by one of the teachers attending the strike, that of which NSW teachers union is being fined for. Picture: John Grainger

“At my school we teachers are sharing the jobs of multiple unfilled and absent staff without any financial compensation. Aside from that, though, the cost of living is at an all-time high so copping the loss is pretty insulting,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“To all the parents upset by the inconvenience of the strikes - improving teacher conditions like pay and time will improve the learning conditions for students.”

“We don’t get paid when we strike, and I know many of my colleagues feel the pinch of docked pay, but I will strike as often as I’m asked, multiple times each week if needed.”

The Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment.

No date has been set for the hearing of the case against the union.