Following the year of stalled negotiations between school staff and government, leaving teachers and principals standstill.
Yes, this is what’s happening in New Zealand currently. It started shortly after the government released its’ 2019 year budget. The budget did not provide enough money on primary and secondary school teachers and packages.
Summer started rough for secondary school teachers, but their union was determined to fight.
After several negotiations between the government and secondary school teachers, the latter has finally accepted the government’s pay offer. The eight-month battle of New Zealand is over and parents can ease their minds and not worry about more action.
Teacher union members voted separately on their settlement package from the government. The package includes $1.47 billion offer to the secondary and primary schools over the course of four years.
Votes were low, but the union has finally agreed to the terms.
Iona Holsted, Ministry of Education Secretary spoke about the results of the negotiations, stating that she was looking forward to continuing collaboration with the teaching personnel with one initiative on the mind – the progress of the education.
She also agreed that she would gladly work with PPTA union towards resolving the secondary and primary sectors’ intricate issues.
Secondary school teachers voted yes, principals – no!
The votes were low, but it’s finally over. Secondary school teachers voted yes to accept the government’s offer, whereas the principals chose to reject it.
Lynda Stuart, The President of NZEI, spoke about the decisions of the principals and stated that, even though the pay raise was much demanded, there is still a workload of issues to address.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins was disappointed that the principals chose to reject their latest offer. He continued his comment to the point that there were no more financial resources for the principals in this negotiation.
NZPF’s president, Whetu Cormick (New Zealand Principal’s Federation) announced in their weekly newsletter that the current battle was over, but they still hoped for a new movement on the issue and the suitable attention from the minister.
