The region's teachers joined in a statewide stop-work, in a huge campaign to draw attention to the unsustainable workloads and poor pay they're currently facing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Griffith Exies club was flooded with red shirts, adorned with campaign slogan 'More than Thanks.' After joining in a livestream of a demonstration in Sydney, teachers marched up Banna Avenue to attract visibility for the cause.
President of the NSW Teacher's Federation Angelo Gavrielatos spoke at the Sydney demonstration.
"It's not good enough ... We said we had to make May 4 too loud to ignore, and that's what you have done," he said.
Teachers across the region have long been fighting for better conditions and lighter workloads, as classes go untaught and schools struggle to fill vacancies.
RELATED
Last semester saw a pause on industrial action as the Teacher's Federation urged the state government to negotiate but when that failed, the strike was deemed necessary.
Luke Di Salvia, the federation representative at Leeton High School, said that the situation would grow exponentially worse the longer it took to see results.
"I've been doing this 24 years at Leeton High, but the job I do now is different to what I signed up for ... The workload and admin is just - It's at the point where some days I wonder what I'm doing," he said, decrying the 'administrivia' that took up so much time.
With a recent survey showing 70 per cent of teachers considering a change in career, he said he worried about younger teachers.
"I'm not at that point, I find ways to cope but younger teachers are finding it tough ... I feel sorry for the younger career teachers, they're not getting the positive impressions."
One of those younger teachers, Dylan Harmer from MRHS, wasn't at that point either but said it wasn't ideal.
"You're told in university that 50 per cent drop out of the job in the first five years, and there's a reason it happens," he said.
How many do we lose before somebody acknowledges the crisis
- Jenna Woodland
There was a positive though.
"A lot of the other teachers are very supportive. We're all here for each other."
IN OTHER NEWS
Griffith Teachers Association president Jenna Woodland said that it was nice to see community support as the region's teachers strolled down Banna.
"You could see the support from the community. For teachers, that's important - You can feel really alone in your desire, so to have support is lovely."
She was firmly against the current narrative from the state government that teachers were disrupting students.
"That sort of victim blaming is atrocious. At what point do we draw the line and say stop blaming the people who are affected most?"
"It's obvious that the federal government doesn't want to do anything ... Who is going to make a decision on this and at what cost? How many do we lose before somebody acknowledges the crisis?"
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.areanews.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News