Tens of thousands of NSW public and Catholic school teachers have walked off the job today in their first joint strike in decades.
The group marched down Macquarie Street in Sydney’s CBD this morning demanding reduced workloads and a pay rise above the 3 per cent offered by NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, earlier this month.
The NSW Teachers Federation wants a pay rise of between 5 and 7 per cent.
Teachers at the rally, chanting “Scrap the cap,” spoke about burnout and crippling staff shortages.
NSW Teachers Federation President, Angelo Gavrielatos, also addressed the rally and said: “Too much is at stake for us not to continue, for our profession, for our students and for their future.”
“We are here because we cannot accept the crippling teacher shortages that are costing our students opportunities to learn. Costing them their future,” Mr Gavrielatos said.
“The Premier thinks the answer is performance pay… Well let me tell you, Mr Perrottet, teachers are performing over and above the call of duty. They are just not getting paid.
“We will keep campaigning until election day next March if we have to.”
This rally is the first time in more than 25 years public and Catholic teachers have joined forces. The joint action will see hundreds of schools across NSW closed or offering only minimal supervision today.
READ MORE: ‘Won’t stop until we win’: NSW teachers vow to fight on after second strike in six months.
