Secondary and area school teachers have taken to the picket line on Wednesday morning for another round of strike action over pay and working conditions.
About 20,000 members of the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) will take to the streets after they "voted overwhelmingly" to hold a one-day strike. But Wednesday's industrial action will not include kindergarten and primary staff, who are represented by New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa.
It comes just 13 days after 50,000 teachers and principals staged a joint protest across the country on March 16.
"PPTA Te Wehengarua members have shown they are serious about getting a new collective agreement with salaries and conditions that will stem the worsening secondary teacher shortage throughout the motu," acting president of PPTA Te Wehengarua Chris Abercrombie said last week.
Teachers and kids with signs have been seen in the Auckland suburb of Green Bay and in front of Selwyn College in Kohimarama on Wednesday morning.
One person is holding a sign that says, "We're not robots but we work like machines," while another sign says, "Paying teachers poorly is bad maths".
Another sign says, "Invest now or pay later".
Some schools will remain open on Wednesday to care for children unable to stay home.
Ahead of the first strike, Education Minister Jan Tinetti, a former principal, conceded working conditions and pay for teachers are "not good enough".
Tinetti told AM on March 15 she "absolutely understands" the issues teachers are facing, adding "it's not good enough, which is why we're trying to address it".
"I've been involved in education for a long time, it has been my life's work and I absolutely appreciate what teachers do, and I'm working really hard to get the best that we can for the teachers," she said.
Minister Tinetti wouldn't go into the specifics of the Ministry of Education's budget for paying teachers but said "there is a lot of work that has to go on in the background".
"There's a good faith bargaining principle that is part of this, so I can't get into that side of it."
