Time to clear Icepak

If Carol Webb had to pay rent on her wage, she’d soon be homeless.

The teacher aide works 30 hours a week at Fairfield College during term times only. Her annualised rate – after 16 years in the job – is $19.56 per hour.

She says the pay is low and the hours precarious, a consequence of working in a female-dominated job that ‘‘does not always fit with what is traditionally viewed as high-skilled’’.

Webb is involved in NZEI’s pay equity campaign to get wage justice for women like her.

She took up teacher aiding in 2002 because she wanted to find hours that fit around her young daughter.

Before that, she managed a group of around 36 people – mostly law graduates – who cleared the commercial rights for programming for BBC Worldwide.

It was a job that paid £70,000 a year.

‘‘There are a lot of soft skills you would not find on a resume, such as the ability to create relationships and having a solution-focused outlook,’’ Webb said.

‘‘We also advocate to make sure the children are safe, [such as] from bullying. Children who are a bit different can often be a target.

‘‘Inclusion is also a huge part of our role, there is so much more to the academic achievement of the students – so many things to sort out first, such as social and behavioural issues.’’

Webb could fill a wall with certificates of the workshops she’s been on.

She’s knowledgeable about autism, dyslexia and curriculum assessments.

And she’s dealt with violent students, some who have assaulted her.

‘‘The education system is crying out for help – we need professional recognition for the work that we do.’’

Webb said job security is also a big issue. Many people lose hours or are on precarious fixedterm contracts.

‘‘The solution

to

this

is centralised funding. This Government is open to that – [MPs] have said they are open to central funding.’’

Despite the poor pay, the job has great rewards.

She spoke of a boy who was quiet and well-behaved but didn’t do much work in class.

‘‘He asked me when I would give up on him, and I said I would never give up on him.

‘‘When he got to year 11 and did options, I worked with him in his science class. It turned out that with a bit of support, he knew the answers but would not speak up.’’

She encouraged him to answer and he surprised himself and the teacher. He is now doing work experience with the local council with the prospect of a permanent job.

NZEI held events nationwide at the weekend to advocate for pay equity. A Tamahere woman is asking for support to have the former Icepak Coolstore site cleared of its scars.

She and others in the rural Waikato community are still haunted by the memory of the fatal coolstore fire a decade ago.

Jo Wilde said it was time the site was developed into something that could help people find some resolution.

What remained of the facility was merely the concrete pads the structures stood on but it was still enough to fuel public recollection of the blaze on April 5, 2008, which claimed the life of firefighter Derek Lovell and seriously injured seven others.

‘‘It’s going to take money to get rid of this concrete, money for the pollution, so why don’t the council just let them [a developer] build the houses to get rid of this obscenity?’’ Wilde said.

The fire occurred due to a leak of a highly flammable gas that was not usually used in the industrial context.

It was described as one of the worst industrial fires in the country’s history.

The site, near Tamahere Model Country School, has been empty and desolate since the disaster.