Secondary teachers call for better offer

Secondary teachers could be the next to strike after rejecting an ‘‘insufficient’’ Government pay offer.

Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) president Jack Boyle said the union is not preparing for industrial action but ‘‘cannot rule it out’’ if its 17,000 members decide that it is necessary.

The Ministry of Education has offered annual pay rises of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent for three years – far short of the union’s bid for a 15 per cent boost over one year.

It has called on the ministry to provide an ‘‘improved offer’’ by November 9. Paid union meetings will be held across the country on November 7.

The vote by PPTA representatives at its annual conference yesterday afternoon comes a day after an announcement primary school teachers and principals will vote on a national week of strikes.

Primary teachers’ union the New Zealand Educational Institute has rejected two pay deals after asking for a 16 per cent pay rise over two years.

If members vote yes for industrial action, a week of rolling strikes will take place region-byregion starting with Auckland on November 12 and finishing in Wellington on November 16, possibly with a rally on Parliament.

PPTA has asked the Government for a 15 per cent pay rise over one year, among other demands to reduce workloads and stem a growing teacher shortage.

The ministry’s offer would increase salaries at the bottom of the trained secondary teachers’ pay scale from $47,000 to $49,877 over three years. Salaries at the top of the scale would increase from $78,000 to $85,233 over the same period.

The ministry has also offered to increase Ma¯ori immersion teacher allowances and middle management roles.

Boyle said the offer showed ‘‘almost no engagement with . . . so many items in our claim, and no real justification other than the cupboards are bare’’.

Ministry deputy secretary Ellen MacGregor-Reid said it had made a good offer to secondary school teachers, and concerns raised by teachers were also being addressed outside the bargaining process.

The ministry was committed to working with the PPTA to reach a settlement, she said.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins addressed the PPTA’s conference yesterday, calling for ‘‘partnership’’.

‘‘Occasionally, compromises need to be made. Presently, that’s what’s being asked of us both.’’

[The offer showed] ‘‘almost no engagement with . . . so many items in our claim, and no real justification other than the cupboards are bare’’. PPTA president Jack Boyle