Education Minister Erica Stanford welcomes the decision by Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche to enable school boards to offer primary teachers new pay agreements. The move benefits around 10,000 primary teachers who are not bound by the NZEI Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement.
“From today, school boards will be able to offer primary teachers, who are not part of the union and employed on individual employment agreements (IEAs), new agreements, which will allow them to receive pay increases of up to 4.7 percent within 12 months. These increases are comparable to those accepted by their secondary counterparts last year,” Ms Stanford says.
“Teachers have right to a contract and is fair and reasonable that nearly a third of primary school teachers, who are not part of the NZEI, should be offered a contract so they can receive the pay increases that the Government has already offered.
“This would equate to approximately $50 to $76 each week and is pay that non-union teachers could already be receiving if not impacted by the NZEI’s ongoing approach to bargaining.
“I know the Commissioner did not come by this decision lightly. However, he has made his concerns on the delays in primary teacher bargaining very clear.
“New IEAs will be available today through school boards for the primary teachers who are not a member of the NZEI Te Riu Roa union or bound by the NZEI Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement.
“Sir Brian will continue to negotiate with the NZEI in good faith, and everyone is hopeful the bargaining process will result in a new collective agreement being ratified for teachers who are bound by the NZEI Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement. In the interim, the priority is to ensure that at least 30 percent of primary teachers can lock in pay increases without further delay.”