Secondary teachers say they will continue striking despite Education Minister Anne Tolley urging them to return to the bargaining table.
Thousands of Year 9 students stayed home today as secondary school teachers began strike action after rejecting the Ministry of Education's latest pay offer.
Today's strike is just the start of industrial action with Year 11 students being rostered off tomorrow and further action planned through to early December.
Ms Tolley slammed the teachers' claims as being unrealistic in tight economic times with their demands saying that "students and their parents" would lose out.
"There seems to be this idea that industrial actions are going to magic up more money."
She said that other areas would have to give if teachers were to be paid more.
"I don't think the general public will like that," she said.
Ms Tolley urged teachers to head back to the negotiating table, disputing their claims that the ministry had not improved its offer.
Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) president Kate Gainsford announced on Monday that teachers had decided to strike after the Government's latest offer fell flat with the PPTA national executive.
She said that after three days of negotiations there had been no substantial shift since the Government's initial offer in June.
Teachers would only return to the bargaining table if the ministry offered more money, removed clawbacks on conditions from the table and offered improvements in areas such as maximum class size, she said.
Education Workforce group manager Fiona McTavish said the ministry was more than ready to sit down at the bargaining table to address PPTA's three priorities and reach a settlement that satisfied all parties.
"As a sign of our good faith and our desire to get on with bargaining, we've decided to not dock the pay of teachers who are striking this week."
"We strongly urge the PPTA to cancel all of the industrial action planned for the rest of Term four. We want to get on with bargaining and settle the issues at the table."
Ms Gainsford said the statement about not docking teachers' pay had caused confusion as members were fully expecting to have their wages docked this week.
"PPTA has been straight up about this, teachers have taken part in this action fully cognisant that they were on strike and wages would be deducted.
"We know what a strike means."
Action would continue as planned, she said.
Teachers were offered a 0.5 percent pay increase in the first year, a 1.9 percent increase in the second year, a one-off payment of $1000 and an additional 3000 middle management allowances worth $1000 each.
That was compared with an earlier offer of no increase in the first year, a 1.8 percent increase in the second, and the one-off payment.
Secondary School Principals Association president Patrick Walsh said yesterday the industrial action could not have come at a worse time for pupils.
"Year 11s are going to be sent home this week, it's only three weeks out from their external NCEA exams and it's one day that they could ill-afford to miss," he told Radio New Zealand.
Due to yesterday's large Christchurch aftershock the PPTA has excluded Canterbury schools from this week's strikes.
