Teachers’ pay demands blasted by ERA

WELLINGTON: The Employment Relations Authority has slammed the teachers union’s pay demands as ‘‘totally unrealistic’’ and is urging teachers to take the Government’s offer.

Despite an improved offer from the Education Ministry following five days of talks, the New Zealand Educational Institute refused on Saturday to call off this week’s primary school strikes.

In his recommendations to the parties — released in full by the Ministry on Saturday — the authority’s chief, James Crichton, said the Government’s offer was ‘‘a handsome and competitive proposal in the current fiscal environment’’.

‘‘My prevailing impression of this facilitation is that NZEI came into the process with a series of proposals which, taken in their totality, had an air of unreality about them.’’

The total cost of the union’s proposals was abnout $2.5 billion, which was ‘‘an unrealistic impost on any employer, including the Government’’, he wrote.

The ministry’s package would cost about $700 million over four years.

Most teachers would get between $9500 and $11,000 extra annually in their salaries by 2020.

The $1.8 billion difference in the totals highlighted the ‘‘total unreality’’ of the union’s claim, Mr Crichton said.

He believed the NZEI’s negotiating team would and could have settled had it not been ‘‘saddled with totally unrealistic riding instructions’’.

‘‘It is, in my judgement, simply unrealistic to hold out for further concessions when all the evidence is the Government has gone as far as it will go.’’

The Government was committed to working with teachers to ‘‘gradually’’ address the sector’s needs.

Talks collapsed after the ministry agreed to fund a half day’s paid leave to allow teachers to consider the latest offer, but after consultation with some members, the union demanded a full day’s paid leave.

‘‘I was genuinely disappointed the facilitation failed to avert the strike but I stand ready to assist the parties in further facilitation, if that is desired.’’

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart said the union’s 30,000 primary teacher and principal members will consider the offer and the ERA recommendations at meetings this week during the rolling strikes.

‘‘We have always said we would take any recommendations and offers back to members, and that is exactly what will happen . . .

‘‘It will be up to them to decide whether the offers are sufficient to fix the education crisis.’’

But Ms Stuart said its demands were justified.

‘‘We don’t think that it’s being unreasonable.

‘‘We’ve always said that we were asking for something more than what was business as usual and in light of the teacher shortage . . .’’

The union’s costing of what it was asking for was about $900 million over a twoyear period, she said.

The latest offer by the Ministry of Education was given ‘‘at the very last minute’’.

The NZEI did look at the practicalities of calling off the strike.

‘‘[The paid union] meetings across the country were at 10am, we had venues booked [and] we could not guarantee that we could get teachers back into classrooms by 12pm,’’ Ms Stuart said.

‘‘We want our teachers to be able to really consider the offer [and] to have the conversations they need to have.’’

A vote on the offer will take place early next month.

A Primary and intermediate school teachers and principals will go ahead with their planned strike action across Otago and Southland on Thursday. — RNZ

❛ I was genuinely

disappointed the facilitation failed to avert

the strike