Mid Canterbury’s secondary teachers are joining their national counterparts in voting on possible strike action in support of their claims for improved salaries and working conditions.

Branch chairman Mark Gleeson said that votes on a possible strike were being cast this week and the result would to be known by the middle of next week.

Negotiations with the Ministry of Education began in August last year but have now stalled.

Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) members had lost patience with what they saw as unnecessary delays, Gleeson said.

“There is high demand for secondary teachers in New Zealand and supply is tight. Basic salaries need to increase to attract quality staff.”

The pressure on teachers and their ever-increasing workloads and growing demands on their time meant that part of the conditions claimed related to recognition of a 40-hour working week.

This would mean extra staff would be needed.

Industrial action was not something teachers considered lightly, as their commitment was to being in their classrooms with students, but they had reached a point where they felt they were getting nowhere, Gleeson said.

The PPTA team nationally had recommended industrial action and the current online vote would determine what happened going forward, he said.

If industrial action is supported it will take place in term two.

By Sue Newman © The Ashburton Guardian - 10 May 2019