More than 100,000 New Zealand teachers, nurses, doctors, firefighters and support staff walked off the job on Thursday demanding more money and resources for the public sector in a sign of growing discontent with the country’s centre-right government. Public servants marched with placards and banners in towns across New Zealand, chanting and listening to speeches. Protests in Wellington and Christchurch had to be cancelled because of dangerous weather conditions. The unions in a joint statement last week billed the strike as the largest in decades with more than 100,000 public servants taking part. Middlemore Hospital emergency doctor and Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Vice President Sylvia Boys told the crowd at Aotea Square in Auckland the government had been elected on promises to reduce the cost of living while maintaining frontline services and it was “fair to say these are the issues on which they are failing dismally.”

Full report : Massive strike in New Zealand as 100,000 demand better pay and conditions.