STRIKE CITY
Wellington bus drivers have vowed to walk off the job next month if their pay dispute with bus operators is not resolved. They may soon be followed by primary teachers and principals, who yesterday rejected the Ministry of Education’s latest pay offers, raising the prospect of a second nationwide strike.
A second national strike could become a reality, as primary teachers and principals have voted to reject the Ministry of Education’s latest pay offers.
New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa members have taken part in a secret ballot which closed on Tuesday night.
The outcome was delivered via email yesterday morning, with members speaking ‘‘loud and clear’’, delivering a ‘‘resounding’’ no to the ministry’s revised offer put forward on September 11.
In the message to members, NZEI president Lynda Stuart said the offers did not do enough to address ‘‘growing issues around workload, recruitment and retention of teachers and learning support’’.
Primary educators would now decide their next course of action with NZEI representatives set to consider feedback at their annual conference in Rotorua, starting on Sunday.
A recommendation will then be made to the national executive about what NZEI does when term four begins next month.
If further strike action is recommended, another secret ballot will be held to gauge members’ support.
‘‘It’s important to note that strike legislation requires us to vote for or against a single proposed action – we are not able to vote on a list of options,’’ Stuart said.
‘‘That’s why it’s essential to have a strong indication of members’ preferred action before we go into annual conference.
‘‘Nothing worth fighting for ever comes easy but if we stand together we can achieve great things,’’ Stuart wrote.
In a strong show of solidarity, NZEI members ‘‘overwhelmingly’’ rejected the previous pay and conditions offer in June, resulting in the first national strike by educators in 24 years.
Thousands of people took to the streets up and down the country on Wednesday, August 15, for a one-day strike that affected about 464,000 students.
In response, the ministry tabled a revised offer a fortnight ago that addressed criticism that the terms were weighted too heavily in favour of new teachers.
But instead of placating concerns, many principals and teachers publicly panned the deal that offered little movement on the key issues of reducing workloads and class sizes.
The new deal would have seen entry-level teachers, who currently start on $47,980, move up each year to an eventual starting point of $53,429 in 2020.
Teachers at the top end of the scale would have seen staggered salary rises from $75,949 to $82,992 in 2020.
Unlike the stance taken by the New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation during their collective agreement talks, NZEI chose not to make a recommendation about which way members should vote.