Psychologists, speech language therapists and learning support specialists employed by the Ministry of Education will be going on strike next week, the union announced today.
NZEI said the workers deal with "huge caseloads and want an improvement in the pay offer from the Ministry".
NZEI Te Riu Roa National Executive member Byron Sanders said the group were "insulted" by the Ministry's offer of a two per cent pay increase and another two per cent increase in March next year.
"We need something tangible from the Ministry to reduce our workload, and an improved pay offer," he said.
"There aren't enough specialists for the children who need the support, and those of us in the job are pushed to our limits with extreme workloads."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today the Government were "sympathetic" to the issues that the support specialists have raised.
"That's why in our first Budget we put one of the most substantial increases into learning support that we've seen," she said.
"We're already recruiting additional staff in that space. We know there’s more work to do, we'd like to work on that around the negotiating table."
About 850 Learning Support specialists are hired by the Ministry of Education and include educational psychologists, early intervention teachers, and advisers on deaf children, Kaitakawaenga, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech language therapists and special education advisers, NZEI said.
The strike is scheduled for Tuesday, August 21.
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