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Teachers across the country will strike again this week as employment negotiations continue with the government.
This is despite a last minute offer from the Ministry of Education, which the Post Primary Teacher’s Association (PPTA) said was “still below [the] cost of living increase” they are seeking.
In a statement on Monday night – just over 12 hours before the strikes are due to begin – the PPTA said it had received an offer for settlement of the secondary teachers’ collective agreement that will be considered by the national executive when it meets later this week.
Acting president of the PPTA Chris Abercrombie said the union had “told the Ministry since negotiations began nearly a year ago that secondary teachers need a pay increase that matches the cost of living.”
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“Unfortunately, we cannot see that this offer provides us with a clear pathway towards settlement.
The strikes would continue as planned, Abercrombie said.
On Tuesday, area school and secondary schools teachers will hold rolling, regional strikes starting with the South Island.
Wellington, Hutt Valley, Manawatu-Whanganui, Wairarapa, Taranaki and Hawkes Bay teachers will strike on Wednesday while Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Western Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau, Hauraki, Coromandel, East Coast, Auckland and Northland teachers will strike on Thursday.
Robyn Edie\Stuff
Invercargill secondary school teacher Zara Parsons, at home on strike on Wednesday, says she would have been lost to the teaching profession if she had stayed living in Auckland.
Iva Ropati, principal of Bay of Plenty’s Pāpāmoa College, said he’ll have to close his school as a result.
“We’ll be open only for students who have no alternative arrangements,” he said. “But we don’t have enough non-union members to be able to fully open.”
Ropati said the number of teachers at his school who aren’t union members was in the single digits.
“It’s impossible for us to have any normal classes running, but I’m really supportive of our teachers. We need to make teaching an attractive profession because we are really struggling with a teacher shortage.
“It [pay negotiations] has been dragging on for some time, and we need an outcome soon because it’s affecting our students,” he said.
Along with the rolling regional strikes the PPTA will also be holding rolling year-level strikes.
Secondary school year-level strikes are planned for the following dates:
- Tuesday May 9 – Year 12
- Thursday May 11 – Year 13
- Tuesday May 16 – Year 9
- Wednesday May 17 – Year 10
- Thursday May 25 – Year 11
- Tuesday May 30 – Year 13
- Thursday June 1 – Year 12
- Tuesday June 6 – Year 10
- Thursday June 8 – Year 9
The first of those was on 4 May, with all members refusing to teach year 11 students while year 12 students are the next up on Tuesday.
Chris Abercrombie, PPTA acting president, said teachers would “much rather be in the classroom” but the teacher shortage needs to be urgently addressed.
John Hawkins/Stuff
Chris Abercrombie is the acting president of the Post Primary Teacher’s Association.
“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,” he said.
A recent teaching survey found 24% of advertised teacher positions had no suitable applicants and 28% had only one.
Around one-third of advertised jobs could not be filled.
Albany Senior High School principal Claire Amos has been juggling a student measles case as well as the upcoming strikes.
The school will open for face-to-face teaching for the first time since the case on Tuesday, but won’t be able to teacher year 12 students until Wednesday. They’ll also have to close again when the regional strike arrives on Thursday.
Amos said her school situation illustrates how complex the teaching profession has become.
“Teachers are on the front line. We think nothing of asking them to do face-to-face teaching to provide learning for students while providing learning for those who are in isolation,” she said.
Ministry of Education employment relations manager Mark Williamson said the level of disruption is “disappointing”.
“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.”
On May 4, the ministry put forward an offer to Area School teacher that would increase the top rung of pay to $100,000 by December 2024.
”We have made, and continue to make, extensive efforts to resolve bargaining, including seeking mediation,” he said.
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