NSW teachers appear set to defy an order to scrap a planned strike. 

The Department of Education has succeeded in asking the Industrial Relations Commission to order the SW Teachers Federation to cancel its planned strike outside Parliament on December 7.

Teachers are taking action to demand pay rises and more planning time.

However, federation president Angelo Gavrielatos says the strike will proceed. 

“The teacher shortages are too large and their cause, uncompetitive salaries and unmanageable workloads, too great for teachers and principals not to proceed with this action,” he said.

The federation has called for a pay rise of 5 per cent a year with an extra 2.5 per cent to recognise extra experience, and two more hours of planning time a week.

But the Department of Education must work within the government’s public sector wage cap, which limits increases to 2.5 per cent a year. The cap can only be exceeded if productivity gains are negotiated.

Beginner teachers in NSW earn $72,263 a year, while teachers in the highest paying bands currently earn $107,779.