Primary teachers in urgent talks
Primary school teachers may need to vote again ahead of a week of rolling strike action, as urgent talks between the union and Ministry of Education begin.
The Government and the union representing primary school teachers and principals have seven days to hammer out the terms for its collective agreement offer.
And New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart isn’t ruling out the possibility of another vote this week if the ministry improves its offer.
Both parties have asked Employment Relations Authority chief James Crichton to lead facilitation talks in Wellington in an attempt to resolve the long-running dispute before more than 460,000 students are forced from their classrooms for a second time in three months.
The joint facilitation application was accepted because bargaining had been protracted, further strike action was planned and that action would have a substantial effect on the public interest. Stuart acknowledged stepping into the negotiating room again had thrown up unknowns. Among them was how long the talks would last, whether another teachers’ vote will take place this week, and whether a second round of industrial action could be prevented. ‘‘Any decisions that we make with the membership around the collective agreement need to go to the vote of the members. We involve the members through the whole process,’’ Stuart said.
More than a day would be needed to carry out a vote, she said. ‘‘We go into this process in good faith, we go in hoping we will get a resolution.’’
Stuart praised the Government’s announcement on Sunday that it would fund 600 new learning support coordinators to assist students with complex needs from 2020 – a scheme that will cost $217 million over four years.
Stuart hoped the authority’s intervention would help resolve the crisis, but encouraged parents to plan for the strike.
She refuted suggestions parents’ support could wane if teachers and principals continued to strike.
If the bargaining is unsuccessful strike action will start in the wider Auckland region on Monday, November 12, winding up in Wellington on Friday.
Under revised offers, entrylevel teachers would have seen their starting salary lift from $47,980 to an eventual starting point of $53,429 in 2020. Teachers at the top end of the scale would have staggered salary rises from $75,949 to $82,992 in 2020.