The secondary teachers' union has told its members the latest pay offers from the Ministry of Education are inadequate.
The ministry made revised offers to primary, area and secondary school teachers on Tuesday which the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) and the Educational Insitute shared with their members overnight.
The offers included identical pay deals - a lump sum payment of $4500 and three pay rises totalling between 11 percent and more than 16 percent by the end of next year.
Unlike the previous three-year offers, the new offers had a two-year term and provided the first pay rises in June and July rather than backdating them to December 2022.
The unions told their members the changes had allowed the ministry to "front-load" the offer to provide bigger pay rises and lump-sum payments at the start of the agreement.
The Educational Institute says the lump sum payment was about $2500 more than most teachers would have got from backdating the first pay rise to December last year. Non-union members would get $3000.
The union told its members it would not make any recommendations about how to vote, but the the PPTA told its members they should reject the offers.
"While there have been some improvements in these offers, in particular equity of non-contact for part-time teachers (from start of 2025) and a salary step increase for relievers (from the start of 2024), the pay rate on offer for the top step has not shifted," the PPTA told its members.
"These offers are not good enough to justify an ongoing pause on industrial action, so this will resume from 12.00am Wednesday 31 May. This action includes the relief ban, refusal to attend meetings outside regular school hours and rostering home."
The offers included a a pay rise of $4000 or six percent, whichever was higher, in June or July, a further three percent increase in July next year and between 1.8 and 6.5 percent in December next year.
The unions say the end result would put the top-of-the-scale pay rate at $100,000 by the end of 2024 - the same rate as previous offers.
The new offers would shift the starting rate for new teachers to at least $60,735 for primary teachers and $63,187 for secondary teachers.
They included a $710 payment for union members only to cover the cost of Teaching Council fees.
4 comments
I'm Over It
Posted on 31-05-2023 10:26 | By Ghost
In an environment when the country is in recovery from multiple storm events, COVID, Housing Crisis, Day care for constant disruptions these teachers are causing and the ever-increasing Cost of living I for one am over teachers. Teachers say it's not about the money this story says otherwise. Take the pay off the table and put the money into what these teachers want. Use the money for the resources they need if it's not about the money. I will be lucky to get a 2% pay rise this year and have just as many struggles these teachers have. Bring in performance pay because some teachers are not worth the air they breathe and coast on the shirt's tails of those teachers that actually care for their students.
Losing support...
Posted on 31-05-2023 10:34 | By fair game
many probably won't agree with me, but oh well....teachers have lost my support. We are ALL living in hard times and they have to accept that. Wanting more than 10 days sick leave per year is ridiculous. Even staff employed in healthcare looking after sick infectious people, and working unsocial hours only get 10 days. It's better than 5 days which we had up until Feb 1st. At least teachers get to have Christmas, summer, and public holidays off. Suck it up princesses...you're losing a lot of credibility lately.
Predictable
Posted on 31-05-2023 16:02 | By laugeo
Predictable responses that are evoked by the notion that if you are employed in a 'vocation' it is somehow immoral to be asking to be paid appropriately. Then of course there's the old rhetoric around all the holidays that teachers have. Answer? Become a teacher and see! These negotiations have been ongoing since last July. Teachers have not had any increase to their pay since July 2021 and now the ministry want to make it appear that 10% pay rises are on offer when the fact is, what is on offer is a 10% pay rise between July 2021 and July 2024. Yes there are no doubt incompetent and or lazy teachers and the same can be said of every single profession, Doctors, Lawyers, Police, it is that sad 'X' % of people in general. No, you're right, let's damn them all anyway.
over this...
Posted on 31-05-2023 16:19 | By Howbradseesit
I'm happy for the teachers to be paid more, however the trade off should be that teacher only days should be held during holiday periods so as to not keep pressuring working parents with having to take time off.
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