More than 17,000 members of the Independent Education Union of NSW and ACT (IEU) voted in overwhelming support of taking strike action.

Maitland teachers will join the Newcastle rally, set to be held at Wickham Park at 10am with teachers marching to the Catholic Schools Office on Hunter Street.

Matthew Bower, IEU representative and teacher at All Saints College, said the strike is going ahead because there isn't enough support in place for teachers and their working conditions don't reflect the job they have to do.

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"We have been underpaid for a long time, that has been reflected in the Gallop report, and there doesn't seem to be enough action to support what we have to do to do our job properly," he said.

The Gallop report was a 2021 independent inquiry which recommended "seismic change to the working conditions and salaries of teachers" because of the profound changes in the volume and complexity of teachers' work.

Mr Bower said the issues affecting Maitland teachers are common across the state, but they are very real.

"The issues of the staffing crisis are real, and they used to be limited to hard to staff schools in remote areas, but we're seeing that it's happening everywhere so primary schools in Newcastle are not being able to get casuals, there are positions being unfilled at a lot of schools," he said.

"A lot of schools are not attracting enough staff and there seems to be an exodus of experienced staff where they are retiring or looking to other options. We also struggle to maintain young teachers, there's a high drop out rate in the first few years of teaching."

The NSW catholic teacher strike follows the NSW public teacher strike on Wednesday, May 4.

Mr Bower said teachers are striking hoping their working conditions will be improved.

"We're working in the same teaching formula that we have had since the 70s," he said.

"It's 50 years without any changes to face to face teaching, even though the work intensification has been extraordinary over that time.

"We're looking for something that's going to look after teachers as an asset, we need to look after teachers if we're going to look after the needs of our students."

Mr Bower said the increased pressure on teachers to look after students wellbeing and to be accessible to parents as well as cater to their educational needs is "overwhelming".

"And it's reflecting in the ability to attract and keep teachers," he said.

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