Why a strike is 100% justified and 100% necessary
An incomplete summary of the harm being done by this current government
Today the Hon Simeon Brown, Hon Erica Stanford and Hon Judith Collins KC issued a joint press release. In it they claimed that the major strike action planned for tomorrow, Thursday 23rd October is “unfair, unproductive and unnecessary”. They went on at some length about ‘affordable settlements’, exaggerated claims about the ‘average’ salary and ‘average total remuneration’ for health professionals, misrepresented where the learning support funding was coming from, and utterly failed to acknowledge the reasons for the strike action.
This National-led government has found billions for roads of national significance, the tobacco industry, landlords, cancelled ferries, and gave miserly tax cuts.
They cut thousands of so-called ‘back room’ jobs that supported doctors, nurses, & teachers to do their work, slashed thousands of jobs in Ministries, effectively froze hiring in health, and refused to employ sufficient nurses. They underhandedly cancelled 33 existing pay equity claims to save themselves $17billion - with mostly working women paying that price.
In education
This National-led government outsourced curriculum development to AI and privately owned Australian companies. Effectively, they threw out a perfectively good curriculum in favour of a white-washed version from Australia and have refused to provide teachers with meaningful support. Instead they rolled out an education roadshow and a PR campaign.
The Hon Erica Stanford dismantled RT-Lit and RT-Māori, removed Outdoor Education (note the recent PR by the Ministry of Education which (a) conflates Physical Education with Outdoor Education and (b) focuses on ‘industry-led’ not curriculum), removed Art History, and reduced levels of te reo Māori from mainstream classrooms. She told students that there was no money for teachers because it was going to Learning Support, yet much of the funding for Learning Support is just repurposed from other areas.
Legislation introduced by the Education Minister (Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) seeks to force schools to deprioritise inclusion, cultural responsiveness, and giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It introduces mandatory Attendance Management Plans for schools, extends strike notice periods from three to seven days, and increases government control through tighter oversight of the Teaching Council and initial teacher education. This reflects a compliance-oriented approach and signals a move away from a holistic, values-based vision of education toward one focused narrowly on measurable achievement and institutional control.
In health
This National-led government has refused to pay ordinary, everyday teachers, doctors, and nurses what they’re worth, and refused to keep pace with inflation - while also giving themselves decent pay rises. Staffing levels in public hospitals are dangerously low across the board. The Hon Simeon Brown insulted health professionals and told them off instead of providing solutions and support.
This National-led government stripped Pae Ora of meaningful change and cut Te Aka Whai Ora / Māori Health Authority - both of which would, if enacted as planned, had made significant positive changes for the health of all New Zealanders.
This National-led government has given $65million to private health providers over 10 years, and $164million to private urgent care facilities instead of properly funding public hospitals - that money would have further and achieved more if provided to public hospitals. It could have significantly alleviated several pressure points in health if provided to the public system.
In addition to all this, the Hon Simeon Brown is dicking about with the regulatory bodies of health professional registrations, attempting to interfere with their independent functioning, implementing legislation to prevent health professionals from advocating for patients, and undermining the medical workforce.
All of the above are not a complete list of actions, yet is clear that educators and health professionals alike are dealing with a government that has refused to listen to their concerns. Instead of implementing what is being asked for, this government is instead steadily stripped away anything that is useful and makes it possible to do a great job.
As for crying poor, well, this government had plenty of money to throw away at cancelling ferries, implementing tax cuts, and to give to their wealthy mates in the land owning classes.
The strike on the 23 Oct is 100% necessary.
The strike on the 23 Oct is 100% justified.
It is the government that is being unfair.
100% this too - its a choice not to have money for education and health!
Thank you for this summary, a tough read, yet they persist. I know the 'Hon' title comes with their office but it seems so wrong for them to have.