Teachers push for ‘pay jolt’

Primary school teachers and principals are making a play for a ‘‘pay jolt’’ as the sector reaches crisis point and a rare strike looms, their union says.

A secret ballot of New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa members over recent days delivered a ‘‘resounding’’ yes to taking strike action in a fortnight’s time.

The union, which represents about 50,000 members, has failed to find common ground with the Government over the terms of its latest collective agreement offer delivered in June.

While both parties planned to enter last-minute mediation talks in good faith, union members remained likely to put down their pens and walk off the job on Wednesday, August 15.

Initially, union members had planned to stop work for threehour periods, but that has been overtaken by a planned full-day strike as dissatisfaction deepens among teachers and principals over pay, workload and conditions.

NZEI Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart was among picketing educators during the last teacher strike 24 years ago.

She said while the decision to strike had not been an easy one, principals and teachers have been critical about resourcing levels for some time.

‘‘They don’t take this lightly . . . I think it’s just gotten to a stage where people know that they’ve just got to do it – to send that strong signal to the Government that, actually, we’ve had enough.

‘‘We can’t attract enough people into the profession, so we’ve got 40 per cent less people going in to train as teachers, and if they do train, we can’t keep them in teaching.

‘‘We need a significant pay jolt,’’ Stuart said.

While Education Minister Chris Hipkins was ‘‘disappointed’’ with the call to strike, he

acknowledged teacher supply was ‘‘tight’’.

‘‘We do want to reach an agreement with the teachers.

‘‘Mediation is getting under way this week. We’re hopeful that process will lead to a positive outcome.

‘‘To put the offer into context, over the last eight years of settlements, they’ve got an average pay increase of 1.2 per cent a year over that time.

‘‘The offer on the table now is double that on a yearly basis when averaged out, so the Government is recognising that teacher pay increases haven’t been particularly generous in recent years,’’ Hipkins said.

Yesterday’s decision by primary school teachers and principals puts it at the top of a growing list of high-profile strike groups.

Staff from Inland Revenue, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and about 30,000 nurses, healthcare assistants and midwives have all taken industrial action in recent weeks.

However, Stuart didn’t believe it hampered the union’s ability to gain community support over the pay issue.

‘‘I think the public are supportive and do understand. I think people are reluctant to take strike action, absolutely.

‘‘Although, overwhelmingly, [NZEI members] have made a decision around this and they know to make a change this is the way forward, they don’t want to. They want to do the best thing for kids.

‘‘People get torn in that sort of situation, but they will say ‘no, we’ve absolutely got to do something, because this cannot continue’,’’ Stuart said.