Teachers begin rolling one-day strike action
Primary school teachers and principals in Auckland walked off the job yesterday as part of nationwide rolling strike action over pay and conditions.
It’s the second time they’ve gone on strike in three months.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was ‘‘pleading’’ with teachers to consider the almost $700 million offer. She would prefer not to be in a strike situation but pointed out teachers had not yet had the chance to vote on the last offer.
The Government had put everything it had on the table, she said. ‘‘This is all we have got.
‘‘We have pushed ourselves as far as we can go. The mediator has endorsed the deal and said that it was ‘handsome and competitive’ and we have tried to listen to what teachers have asked of us in this deal.’’
Education Minister Chris Hipkins was adamant there would no more money put on the table and that NZEI should ‘‘consider carefully’’ where it went from here. ‘‘They need to work with their members to de-escalate the situation,’’ he said.
‘‘The prime minister, the minister of finance and myself have all been very clear – the money that is on the table now is the extent of the money that is going to be offered. We are happy to talk about reconfiguring the offer but there will not be any more money.’’ Hipkins welcomed teachers back to the table to work through getting a package they were comfortable with.
‘‘We are not going to increase the amount of money indefinitely.
‘‘It was concerning to the Government as the process has been moving its way through – we have been increasing the offer to NZEI and they, at the same time, have been increasing what they are asking. It makes it very difficult to find a common ground.’’
Asked if he was concerned primary and secondary teachers could strike together, he said it was early in the process with secondary school teachers.
However, the Government’s ability to negotiate had been constricted by the fact it had been in mediation with the primary school teachers, he said.
That process had to some extent defined the process for negotiations with secondary school teachers, he said.
NZEI president Lynda Stuart said the latest offer did not address class sizes or teachers’ professional development time.