They vowed they would return, and in greater numbers, they did as promised.
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St George teachers came back to the office of NSW Premier Chris Minns on Thursday afternoon, after making a pledge to drive up their protest following an appearance at Kogarah by St George Teachers Federation representatives earlier this month.
The Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT Branch (IEU) and the NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) united for a joint rally on August 17.
Teachers from across the region stepped up their campaign for their fight for 'fair salaries and workloads', calling on the state government to honour its agreement to tackle the teacher shortage.
In the state electorate of Kogarah, the federation states there are 13 full time teacher vacancies and in July there were 1820 vacancies across NSW.
Federation Acting President Henry Rajendra addressed the rally, alongside teachers who spoke of being overwhelmed and overworked.
Unions stated that the government struck, and then backtracked on a one year agreement to lift wages to make beginning and experienced teachers the nation's best paid. It insisted on an additional three year clause capping wage movements at 2.5 per cent. The federation said this counterproductive measure undermined and eroded the first year increase.
"No corner of NSW has been spared by the teacher shortage," Mr Rajendra said. "There are more than 2000 teaching vacancies in public schools across the state and at least 13 here in the Premier's own electorate.
"Because of the shortage, the existing workforce has unsustainable workloads and are at risk of burnout. This problem is getting worse and our kids deserve better. The fastest and best way to tackle this crisis is for the government to pay teachers what they're worth. It's not too late to revive and honour the agreement the government made."
He said teachers would continue to exert maximum political pressure and on September 9 would meet to decide whether to escalate action further.
IEU members also stepped up their campaign, wearing yellow and carrying placards. "All teachers in NSW will be impacted by this disappointing move from the Government and that is why we are standing shoulder to shoulder with the Teachers Federation today," Secretary of the IEUA NSW/ACT Branch Mark Northam, said.
"Teacher shortages remain at crisis point and not starting the process to rebuild the profession is totally unacceptable. School communities across NSW deserve better."
In June, the NSW Government announced it was tackling the teacher shortage, stating that almost 5500 teachers and support staff had accepted offers to become permanent employees in under two months. It committed to offer 16,000 temporary teachers and school-based support staff conversion to permanent contracts by the beginning of term 4, 2023.
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