Tens of thousands of teachers send Premier a strong message on workload and salaries

Teachers from Government and Catholic schools in NSW took strike action across NSW and the ACT today, calling on the NSW Government to urgently act on the teacher shortage and its underlying cause – uncompetitive salaries and unsustainable workloads.

More than 20,000 teachers gathered outside NSW Parliament House in Macquarie Street on Thursday June 30, while thousands more members protested across 15 regional rallies, from Ballina to Canberra and throughout regional NSW.

NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said this was the biggest teacher strike in more than 20 years, an indication of the growing momentum of the More Than Thanks campaign and the rising contempt the profession holds towards the Perrottet Government.

“Thousands of classes are uncovered across the state because of a lack of teachers – the Premier is failing teachers and he is failing students.

“Our students are relying on us to secure the changes needed stop the teacher shortages. We cannot let them down,” he said.

“Unsustainable workloads are the biggest threat to the future of our profession. Every day we are hearing stories from teachers who feel like they are being forced to choose between their health and their career.

“We are serious about negotiating an agreement to address the classroom crisis we’re in. We’re ready to negotiate, but the premier is on notice, and we will keep campaigning until the March 2023 election should he continue to ignore the needs and future of the profession.

“Too much is at stake for us not to continue, for our profession, for our students and for their future.

“If we don’t pay teachers what they are worth, we won’t get the teachers we need.”