Secondary teachers around the country are striking from tomorrow through until Thursday as pay negotiations continue to break down.
More than 20,000 secondary teachers will hold rolling strikes, starting with the entire South Island tomorrow, with rallies, marches and roadside pickets planned to highlight the impasse.
The PPTA says the strikes are in protest at the lack of progress in negotiations for a collective agreement that meets the needs of secondary education and the secondary teaching profession.
“Teachers would much rather be in the classroom concentrating solely on teaching and learning, than having to take disruptive industrial action, but we have a teacher shortage that needs to be addressed urgently through better pay and conditions,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president.
“Every student has a right to have a specialist teacher in every subject but tragically that is not the case in an increasing number of schools.”
PPTA’s annual staffing survey, released recently, found that one in seven advertised classroom teacher positions had no applicants at all from within New Zealand or from overseas.
One third of advertised positions could not be filled at all and 5% were filled by Limited Authority to Teach (LAT) appointments.
“We need pay and conditions that will keep our skilled and experienced teachers in the profession, attract people into teaching, and encourage those teachers who have left to return to the job they love.
“Secondary teaching is an awesome career, and it is a hugely demanding one. It needs to be valued more highly and the work needs to be more manageable. We are committed to getting a satisfactory settlement of our collective agreement - the future of secondary education and our profession depend on it.”
The PPTA told 1News it's updating its website with a list of all schools affected across the week.
Mark Williamson, general manager of employment relations at the Ministry of Education said that continuing strike action is disruptive for schools.
“While we have been bargaining with urgency and in good faith in order to reach a resolution, the union, of its own accord, has chosen to continue strike action which affects students, whānau and communities.
“Active negotiations with the PPTA are currently supported by the Employment Relations Authority facilitator. This level of disruption is disappointing.
“In bargaining for secondary teachers, to date we have put forward four proposed settlement packages, either formally or informally, to address the PPTA’s extensive list of claims. We have focused on incorporating their priorities into our offer. Facilitated bargaining to settle the secondary teachers’ collective continued today and we are committed to putting forward the best offer possible for their consideration.
“In area teacher bargaining we put forward an offer to settle on 4 May which would increase the top rate of pay for area school teachers to $100,000 by December 2024, along with a package of conditions which addresses the concerns and issues raised by the unions in negotiations.
“We have made, and continue to make, extensive efforts to resolve bargaining, including seeking mediation, before applying for facilitated bargaining, when it became clear that support would likely be required to enable the parties reach a final settlement.”
When and where strikes are planned:
Tuesday 9 May - entire South Island
Wednesday 10 May - Wellington, Hutt Valley, Manawatu-Whanganui, Wairarapa, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay
Thursday 11 May - Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Western Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau, Hauraki, Coromandel, East Coast, Counties-Manukau, Auckland, Northland
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