Large numbers of teachers and support staff protested in Port Macquarie on Wednesday morning.
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The industrial action saw more than 100 staff from three Mid-North Coast high schools gather at Port Panthers for three hours.
The Independent Education Union's Liam Griffiths said four other schools throughout the Lismore Diocese were also participating.
The IEU's Mid-North Coast branch president, Suzanne Penson, said teaching staff want to negotiate a new agreement which builds on current conditions.
"The agreement should recognise the value of teachers and support staff, respect our professionalism and reward us in a way that is fair and just," she said.
But the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations said the action was unhelpful, and undermined constructive negotiations.
The CCER's executive director, Tony Farley, said a new enterprise agreement had only been proposed, with a draft submitted on April 7.
"From the very beginning Catholic employers advised the union that the draft proposal was the start of a discussion about developing a modern agreement," he said.
Any new agreement must acknowledge the changing roles of teachers, Mr Farley said.
"We need to ensure we have safeguards and a document that supports professional learning and teaching practice going forward," he said.
"We need a contemporary agreement for contemporary schooling."
Mr Griffiths said he was gobsmacked by the huge number of teachers supporting the action, which was about making a strong statement.
"They want to strip away hard-fought entitlements," he said.
"It's an attack on our professionalism."
The latest negotiation between CCER and the union is scheduled for next week.