Source: Radio New Zealand
Primary school teachers picket in Whangarei in October. RNZ/Peter de Graaf
Primary school teachers’ pay talks resume on Wednesday, two-and-a-half months after union members rejected a government offer.
Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI) negotiator Liam Rutherford said the Employment Relations Authority would mediate the negotiations.
The collective agreement had been under negotiation for seven months, he said.
Members last year rejected the government’s most recent offer of a 2.5 percent pay rise from the end of January with a further 2.1 percent a year later.
Secondary teachers accepted a similar deal and secondary principals and primary principals also settled their agreements.
Rutherford said the union had been speaking with its members since schools opened for the year.
“What we’ve heard loud and clear from them is they’re not going to be accepting an offer that doesn’t meet their needs and that is around pay that is going to attract and retain teachers in the country but also some of those really important learning support parts,” he said.
Rutherford said the most recent offer to primary teachers was not exactly the same as that accepted by secondary teachers.
He said primary teachers did not have full pay parity with secondary, particularly in terms of allowances for extra duties.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
