Secondary teachers reject Government's latest pay offer

October 2, 2018

The PPTA announcement increases the pressure on the government and could inconvenience parents nationwide.

Secondary teachers have rejected the Government's latest pay offer, meaning the threat of strikes continue.

According to a media statement, at the PPTA annual conference today, delegates representing over 17,000 secondary teachers expressed strong concerns about the impact on secondary teacher recruitment and retention if the government doesn’t make significant improvements to their offer.

The Ministry of Education's Deputy Secretary Ellen MacGregor-Reid says they have made a "good offer" to secondary school teachers.

The offer moves beginner teachers' base salaries from $51,200 to $55,137 and base salaries for those at the top of the scale from $78,000 to $85,233 - a 9.3% increase for the majority of secondary school teachers.

Ms MacGregor-Reid says concerns raised by teachers are also being addressed outside the bargaining process.

The PPTA are calling on the Government to come back with an offer that genuinely addresses teacher shortages and excessive workload before paid union meetings begin on 7 November – once senior students have left for exam leave.

PPTA president Jack Boyle says: "Secondary schools are facing an unprecedented shortage of the trained, expert quality teachers that our young people need.

"We can’t accept this offer: it would leave secondary teaching on the downward trajectory that it’s been on for the last decade, with the attractiveness and sustainability of this great profession being eroded further."

"The Government’s offer doesn’t touch the sides of addressing the problem," says Mr Boyle. 

It comes after primary school teachers confirmed last night they would vote on whether to run a week of regional strikes later this year after rejecting the latest offer by the Ministry of Education.

The New Zealand Educational Institute say the offer, "failed to address the need for a significant pay jolt, teacher workload or resourcing for children with additional learning needs".

While a two-day national strike and "lesser industrial action" were looked at by the union, the strongest support was given to a week of national strike action.

As a result, teachers and principals will vote in the first week of term 4 on whether to hold the week of one-day strikes in November.

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