Teachers’ strike may get bigger
Manawatu¯ primary school teachers and principals have overwhelmingly voted to take strike action for the first time since 1994, as a leading principal labels the pay offer ‘‘insulting’’. Although the plan is to strike for half a day on August 15, it could be extended to cover the whole day. The strike was called after pay negotiations between the Government and New Zealand Educational Institute, the union that represents about 27,000 primary school staff, hit an impasse. Teachers want a 16 per cent increase over two years, as well as funding for a special education needs co-ordinator in every school. The Government has offered 86 per cent of teachers a pay rise ranging from about 2.2 per cent to 2.6 per cent a year for three years. Teachers in their first three years, the other 14 per cent, were offered pay rises averaging 4.3 per cent to 4.7 per cent a year for three years. Manawatu¯ Principals’ Association president Wayne Jenkins, who is principal of Palmerston North school Ross Intermediate, said schools would need to close during the strike. ‘‘The last things schools want to do is inconvenience parents, but when we have issues and a crisis this bad a really clear message needs to be sent. He said the current offer was ‘‘an insult’’. ‘‘It’s not even a starting point.’’ Principals were almost unanimous in what the biggest issues were for schools: having enough teachers, and taking care of children’s learning and behavioural needs, he said. Schools now have to fund special education needs coordinators from operation or teaching staff budgets. Jenkins said not having dedicated funding for those coordinators meant the work was often done by other teachers. But teachers already had full workloads, he said. Increased funding would keep teachers in the profession and ensure students got a great education, he said. ‘‘At the end of the day, it is the kids who are the ones that are going to miss out in the big picture [if a deal is not reached]. ‘‘It’s about better conditions for the kids teachers teach.’’ New Zealand Educational Institute’s lead negotiator Liam Rutherford, who also teaches at Ross Intermediate, said the union did not release exact figures on how votes went, but the result for strike action was clear. ‘‘It was overwhelming, completely one-sided.’’ Although initially voting for the half-day strike, Rutherford said members expressed interest in making it a whole day. A decision would be made in the next six weeks, he said. The pay argument was down to issues about workload. There were more pupils entering schools, but fewer people training to teach them, he said. ‘‘The last 10 years has seen chronic levels of underfunding, putting extra strain on the workload of teachers and principals.’’ That had led to teachers actively discouraging people from joining the profession, Rutherford said. It was depressing to hear, but things had got to a point where the excitement of teaching did not balance with the ever-increasing workload. ‘‘[The strike] is less about pay percentage increases and more about how people talk about their job,’’ he said.