Secondary teachers lay down strike gauntlet
Secondary teachers will go on strike next month after ‘‘running out of patience’’ with collective contract negotiations, their union’s president says.
Thousands of teachers will walk off the job in a national day of action on April 3.
At a Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) meeting in Rotorua on Saturday, president Jack Boyle said teachers hoped to receive ‘‘a realistic offer’’ from the Government before then.
More talks are planned for Thursday and Friday.
‘‘If we don’t, we will use the day to publicly protest the lack of progress,’’ Boyle said.
‘‘We have been negotiating with Government for a settlement to our collective agreement since August last year and our members are running out of patience.’’
In November, PPTA members voted against the Ministry of Education’s second offer of a 9 per cent pay rise over three years.
Members authorised a one-day strike at that time but were willing to call off the strike if they received a better offer.
Ministry deputy secretary Ellen MacGregor-Reid said the Government’s latest $496 million pay offer – a 9.3 per cent increase over three years – would have pushed 70 per cent of secondary teachers’ salaries up from $78,000 to $87,790 through the introduction of a new pay step.
She said the Government was working to address the sector’s other concerns: ‘‘We know there is high demand for teachers in New Zealand and supply is tight.
‘‘However we have a supply of qualified teachers ready for interviews.’’
But teachers described the Government’s three offers to date as ‘‘not touching the sides’’ of the high workloads and workforce shortages affecting the sector, Boyle said.
While there had been ‘‘good engagement’’ with the PPTA’s lesser demands during the eightmonth-long negotiations, the Government needed to offer more than the $496m it had allocated, he said.
‘‘There’s only so much you can do within that fixed pot of money.
‘‘We can’t just sit here and hope that things are going to get better when we are going to lock in a three-year contract.
‘‘Teachers want to be working with students in our classrooms.
‘‘We don’t want to be put in the position where we have to take industrial action.’’
PPTA and primary teachers’ union the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) have already agreed to jointly campaign for pay rises in 2019.
NZEI held two strikes last year, its first industrial action in 24 years, and remains in negotiations with the Ministry of Education.
The PPTA’s announcement brings the possibility of a combined teacher ‘‘megastrike’’ a step closer to reality.