Teachers from schools across the Top End will go on strike on Friday

Teachers from Top End schools are set to go on strike later this week. SEE WHEN.

TEACHERS from Top End schools will go on strike this week.

The strike will impact urban schools from the Darwin and Palmerston region, up to and including Humpty Doo and Taminmin.

All schools will remain open. Teachers are striking in protest to the NT government’s four-year wage freeze.

It comes as the Commissioner for Public Employment and the Australian Education Union NT are undergoing negotiations on a new NTPS non-contract principals, teachers and assistant teachers’ enterprise agreement.

The Department of Education received formal notification from the NT branch of the Australian Education Union (AEU) the strike will take place on August 19 between 9am and 1pm.

AEU NT branch secretary Adam Lampe said the Territory’s public education system was in “crisis”.

“We’re in the middle of a public education crisis because of teacher shortages and the current pay conditions on offer from the government,” Mr Lampe said.

“About three quarters of Territory schools are not fully staffed and it is only going to get worse.

“We do a lot of recruiting from Queensland and Victoria and they are the two jurisdictions that have just secured fairly generous paying conditions.

“Unless the present government can do something to encourage teachers to stay in the Territory, well the situation is just going to get a lot worse.”

Darwin High School is one of the schools impacted by the strike. Picture: Justin Kennedy

The initial strike on Friday will take place at the Parap Markets, outside Michael Gunner’s former office, with Fannie Bay candidates Brent Potter and Ben Hosking invited to address the crowd.

Mr Lampe predicated up to 800 teachers could go on strike, with at least 200 to 300 expected to attend.

“We just need to send a clear message to the government that this is a problem that won’t go away unless they try to do something,” he said.

“There’s more strikes on the table. There certainly will be a Territory wide strike in the not too distant future if we don’t get any movement after this week.

“We’re doing this for the benefit of the kids because if the government is refusing to put any more money into public education we will lose a bunch of people.

“The message to parents is we understand, we encourage you to send your kids to schools, even on Friday. We’re doing this out of the belief it’s for the good of public education in the NT.”

United Workers Union NT branch secretary Erina Early said teachers were stopping work to voice their displeasure to the government.

“Teachers around the Northern Territory are going on a four hour work stoppage,” Ms Early said on Mix 104.9.

“The teachers are basically sending a clear message to the NT government that they are not happy with the four-year wage freeze.”

Chief Minister Natasha Fyles expressed her disappointment in the union choosing to go on strike.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles expressed her disappointment that teachers chose to go on strike. Picture: Floss Adams.

“I’m a little bit disappointed in the union that they have jumped straight to a strike,” Ms Fyles said.

“Our teachers were some of the highest paid in the country, we’ve since seen other EBAs leapfrog them. We are negotiating in good faith, but they do have the right to take action.

“I would like to see our teachers in the classroom and I would like to see the union at the table negotiating in good faith.

“We understand the pressures they are under. Cost of living has increased rapidly and even the RBA have acknowledged interest rates have caught them off guard.”

Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro however said the Country Liberal Party were in complete support of the teacher strike action.

“We absolutely support Territory teachers and their strike action because they should not be having a four-year pay freeze,” she said.

“The opposition have stood side by side with the public service against this archaic freeze that’s going to mean in four years’ time public servants won’t even have a pay rise in line with CPI.

“Our teachers are out there every single day raising our kids so they can be contributing members of society and the fact they’re taking strike action shows just how out of touch the government are.”