John MacDonald: Judith Collins is egging on parents and it needs to stop - Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald

The Government is really spooked by this week’s mega strike. With about 100,000 people expected to walk off the job on Thursday.

If it wasn’t spooked, we wouldn't have Public Service Minister Judith Collins writing this open letter to patients, students and families affected by the doctors, nurses, teachers, prison staff and other healthcare workers going on  strike.

It’s a letter which, I think, ups the ante on the serve Health Minister Simeon Brown gave doctors last week over their involvement. Because what Judith Collins says in the letter, aside from how much the Government regrets the impact the strike is going to have on people - which it is, she’s encouraging parents to do, what I would describe as, harassment of teachers.

She’s saying to parents - especially those with younger kids who are going to have to make alternative arrangements for the day because they can’t leave the young ones at home on their own - that they should quiz teachers about the timing of their action. 

Why they’re striking in a week when many schools already have teacher-only days and on a day so close to the Labour Day holiday on Monday.

And I think this is so wrong.

Because, if you’ve ever had kids at school, you will know that quite a few parents don’t need any encouragement to have a go at the teachers.

You always hear stories about parents hounding teachers about this and that. And, every now and then, you hear stories about people quitting teaching altogether because of the relentless hassle they get from parents.

And the Government, with this open letter, is just encouraging more of that.

It’s calling the mega strike “politically-motivated”. But the Government stands accused of the exact same thing with this open letter. As well as the outburst last week from the Health Minister.

One of the reasons the Government thinks it’s politically-motivated is the secondary teachers union wanting to discuss Palestine when it met with the Education Minister.

That was just dumb and didn’t do their cause any good.

But the Government just needs to accept that the mega strike is happening and it needs to stop this attack on people who are doing nothing illegal. They’re fully within their rights to strike and  this harassment has to stop.

If you heard me last week criticising the firefighters for striking, because I thought it put us at unnecessary risk, then you might think it’s a  bit rich of me to be having a go at the Government today.

The difference is, I’m not a government minister. More importantly, though, I wasn’t encouraging anyone to confront the firefighters. Far from it.

But that’s what the Public Service Minister is doing.

The teachers shouldn’t have to defend themselves to nagging parents and the Government shouldn’t be egging them on.

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