50,000 teachers strike in New Zealand over cost of living
Recent figures have suggested that New Zealand’s economy is shrinking, fuelling fears of a looming recession.
Around 50,000 teachers in New Zealand went on strike on Thursday, after union talks with the Ministry of Education aimed at improving salaries and conditions stalled.
Teachers demanding better pay waved placards such as “too poor to print good signs” as the one-day strike forced kindergartens as well as primary and secondary schools to close across the country. Unions argued that the government’s latest pay offer did not match inflation and the education sector is at a “crisis point” due to teacher shortages.
“A quality education is a fundamental human right,” Chris Abercrombie, from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association, said. “Tragically, as teachers we are seeing that right being slowly, and surely, undermined.”
Improvements to salaries and working conditions were essential to keep staff and recruit graduates, he said.
Education Minister Jan Tinetti said she was disappointed to see the strike action and wanted the dispute resolved quickly.
The cost of living has become a major political issue in New Zealand, as the government struggles to keep a lid on inflation. Recent figures have suggested the economy is shrinking, fuelling fears of a looming recession.
AFP
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