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When teachers in New Zealand decided to go on a work to rule over pay levels, no one would have expected that within a week their plight would be on every front page and at the top of every news bulletin. The reason was that a spontaneous strike closed most schools in the country. The amazing thing is that without any national co-ordination or union structure, it was the students went out in sympathy and ground the education system to a halt, ensuring education the highest profile in their general election run-up.
Underfunding public servants pay has hit home in New Zealand over the last few years, as for the first time ever they have hospital waiting lists (though as Lorna got ill while we were there, believe me they don't know what a real waiting list it!) as nurses leave their health service is search of better pay in countries like the UK and Australia. Teachers were hoping to show that the same is happening in schools with their action. Teachers effectively had an overtime ban, refusing to supervise extra-curricular activities like sports training and matches, trips, dramatics, school balls and the like.
Members of the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) voted against the governments pay deal by 74% in May, showing a hardening of attitudes since a 57% rejection in February. This vote initially caused wildcat strikes at 10% of secondary schools as the union had still not decided on industrial action despite the disagreement over pay having rumbled on for 15 months. The union responded by rolling out nationwide the ban on school sports and other extra-curricular activities in the Auckland region, and included alternating strike action (by which one year would miss classes one day, another the next).
The thing which stuck in my mind the most coming in on the bus from Christchurch airport on a Wednesday teatime, was that over five miles we must have passed forty or so Rugby, Football and Hockey pitches with every one being used, whether for a match or training. A local guide told us that "In Christchurch grass if for playing Rugby or Cricket on, not walking over". As such maybe it was not a surprise that when the ban on extra-curricular sports hit, it was Christchurch students who decided to do something about it. But they did not complain, they came out in sympathy with teachers. A group of Riccarton High School students decided to take things into their own hands and persuaded students at two other Christchurch schools, with which they were due to have had a tournament, to come out on strike. Students made it clear that they supported the teachers' struggle and that their action was directed at the government for its failure to settle the dispute. From a couple of students at one school deciding to get off their chairs, the strike spread. The next day in the capital, hundreds of students from Wellington Girls' College walked out of school to demonstrate in the streets of the capital near parliament. Trevor Mallard, the minister for education refused to meet them because "They'd bunked off school to be there". Dean Granger a Pakuranga student responded that
"Obviously, Mr Mallard's intention is for every student to end up with the intelligence of himself. The way he has handled this teacher's dispute, this will not be a hard goal to meet."
The schools strike was now front page news. With coordination coming from text messages, in another 24 hours thousands of students all across the country had come out to demonstrating en masse in town centres, despite threats of disciplinary action by some principals. Protests had spread from Christchurch to Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Bay of Islands, Rotorua, Hutt Valley, Lower Hutt, Napier, Waiuku, Foxton, Northlands, Dunedin, Wanganui and Paraparaumu -just about everywhere- with the authorities denouncing them. The president of the School Trustees Association, which represents school boards, proclaimed there was a state of "near anarchy" in the schools. Mallard denounced the protests, claiming teachers were encouraging them. Despite there being not a hint of violence in the protests, the response from PPTA President Jen McCutcheon seemed harshest, claiming the country was seeing;
"Civil disobedience ... rioting in the streets. I've never heard of anything like it before in any other country. We do not want to see students rampaging around setting fire to rubbish bins and things like that. While we acknowledge and thank them for their support ... we simply cannot condone the action, especially when there is the possibility that someone will get hurt."
A student from Epsom Girls Grammar told the NZ Herald she was "really shocked the teachers didn't appreciate us striking for them". But it was the 'threat of someone getting hurt' that scuppered the protests, with the PPTA calling off their action fearing a demonstrating student would get run over. By then though the students had handed them a massive victory. Two days before the protests had started, Labour had called an early election as they were likely to win an outright majority, but instead they were returned again as the lead partner in a three-way coalition, with their coalition partners demanding action on public service pay.
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