Staff from over 500 Catholic schools across NSW and the ACT took a full day on May 27 to rally for better pay and two extra hours planning time, as well as less 'busywork' for teachers - supported by the Independent Education union.

There were 10 rallies and marches across the state and territory - the biggest being in Sydney where protestors marched to the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, while other rallies could be seen in Dubbo, Wollongong, Canberra and Port Macquarie among others.

Teachers from Griffith and Leeton travelled to Wagga to campaign at the nearest Catholic Education Office.

The stop-work saw a solid turnout, but Saint Frances de Sales Regional College union representative Jesse Chant said they weren't convinced it was going to make the necessary impact.

"The strike went well, we had a good representation and made our presence known without issue," he said.

"Even though it was the IEU's first full day strike in over 18 years, it seems we will have to continue to take action to get any progress."

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IEU NSW/ACT Branch Secretary Mark Northam said they were calling for a 10 to 15 per cent increase over two years.

"We call on all 11 dioceses to make a realistic pay offer to teachers to meet our claim of a 10 per cent to 15 per cent increase over two years," he said.

Mr Chant said higher-ups were afraid to push for any change.

"They haven't addressed many of our claims to improve workload so that teachers can focus on teaching ... or any attempt at solutions to our teacher shortage."

"The employers seem afraid to lead or push for change, instead choosing to hide behind the independent negotiations in the public system."

With no concrete action yet, Mr Chant said that it was likely they would have to take further industrial action in the future however there are no current plans yet.

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