Morning disruptions at NSW schools as thousands of teachers attend union meeting

Schools across NSW are set to experience disruptions on Monday morning as thousands of teachers participate in a scheduled union meeting.

There will be minimal supervision at public schools NSW this morning. Picture: File image

Schools across NSW are set to experience disruptions on Monday morning as thousands of teachers participate in a scheduled union meeting.

Nearly 60,000 state school teachers will engage in a stop-work meeting from 8.30-10am, as announced by the NSW Teachers Federation.

This meeting is expected to mean there will be “minimal supervision” for students, with some schools advising parents to delay sending their children until after 10am.

“Teachers will briefly stop work this morning to discuss award negotiations, as is standard practice. This will conclude by 10am,” a NSW Teachers Federation spokesperson said.

The timing of the stop-work action has raised concerns, particularly for Year 9 and 10 students as exams may be impacted.

NSW Teachers Federation President, Henry Rajendra.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said last year’s pay rise was a mark of respect for teachers. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

However, the federation has reassured parents that the disruption will not affect the ongoing HSC exams.

The meeting is to inform teachers about a new pay proposal from the state government.

The impact of the stop-work meeting varies by school.

This latest stop-work comes after teachers in September last year secured a historic pay rise of up to 20 per cent for some staff for the first year with an agreement to negotiate the award over the following three years.

Under the agreement the starting salary for a NSW public teacher rose from $75,791 to $85,000 while the salary of the most senior teachers increased from $113,042 to $122,100. Teachers within the middle salary bands were given pay rises between four and eight per cent.

It is understood the Teachers union came to an agreement with the Department of Education to hold a meeting this morning to allow its members to vote on the pay deal for the remaining three years of the agreement.

The government’s offer has been kept confidential until the union can update its members.

It is understood part of the offer will also be focused around conditions such as flexibility at work, and reducing administrative workloads of teachers.

Teachers within the middle salary bands were given pay rises between four and eight per cent.

Education Minister Prue Car said at the time that “pay is a mark of respect,” describing the pay increase as “desperately needed.”

“Striking this deal was vitally important, so our hardworking teachers can see they are respected by their Government, and being paid adequately for the hard work they are doing to educate the state’s students.”

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Originally published as Morning disruptions at NSW schools as thousands of teachers attend union meeting