Claims and negotiations

What has happened to pay parity with other state sector teachers?

The short answer is the Ministry won’t make us an offer that maintains pay parity. The slightly longer explanation is:

For NZEI Te Riu Roa, pay parity means teachers across the state sector have the same (or very similar) pay scale. Each time we negotiate a new collective agreement we have to negotiate these steps. Ever since we achieved pay parity the Ministry has agreed to this. Last time we negotiated we voted to accept a two year term and secondary teachers and principals accepted a three year term. That means we got offered two increases whilst secondary teachers and principals got three.

The reason we went for the shorter term was so we could work with the Ministry to develop a new career framework. We would then negotiate to introduce it as part of the current negotiations. We intended to factor in the third increase as part of that work, however, that did not happen. The Ministry did not complete the work with us and the Government is now refusing to enable the Ministry to factor the value of that third increase into these negotiations. That means, if we accepted the recent offers, we would no longer have parity and there would be no clear pathway to return to it.

What do pay parity and salary comparability mean?

Pay parity is how we refer to the idea that teachers across the state sector should have the same (or very similar) pay scale. Salary Comparability is the name given to the clause in the collective agreement that is intended to express a commitment between the parties to maintain this.

Will non-members receive the same settlement and benefits as members?

Throughout these negotiations NZEI has been negotiating for elements of the settlement to apply to members only.

How would a settlement apply to non-members?

The NZEI Te Riu Roa team is focused on getting the best deal possible for members. It is up to non-members to negotiate their own employment agreement.

What is the difference between “accepting an offer" and “ratifying a settlement”?

An offer sets out what the Ministry would include in a terms of settlement if we accept the offer. If the majority of members voted to accept the offer, NZEI Te Riu Roa would then conduct negotiations to finalise specific details and agree a terms of settlement. We would then have a formal ratification vote for the terms of settlement.

Why have we made claims that would lead to schools needing to employ more teachers (increasing CRT, reducing curriculum staffing ratios, SENCO release, professional leadership time) when there is a teacher shortage crisis?

We know that there are lots of people choosing to leave teaching or deciding not to train to be teachers because of the workload, stress and lack of support so we need to change the conditions to make teaching a more attractive and sustainable profession. If we do that, we will have more teachers available and will be able to achieve the claims. We know that we might need to phase in some of the things we claimed.

When will Q1 and Q2 teachers get to move up a step?

One of the latest offers was for Q1 and Q2 teachers to move up one step on 27 February 2021 (as long as they have been on their current step at least a year and have a satisfactory attestation). The other offer allowed for Q1 and Q2 teachers to move up a step from 27 February 2020. Both of these options were rejected by members.

What is happening with our claim for SENCOs?

The NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating team is continuing to push the importance of introducing a SENCO role that has release time, remuneration and PLD available to support it.

The Government has announced that it intends to create new in-school Learning Support Co-ordinators as part of a wider draft Learning Support Action Plan. We are currently waiting for more detail about how the role will be implemented. We have let the Secretary for Education know that we expect to negotiate terms and conditions for the LSC role.

Are we still fighting for more CRT?

This is something that the NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating teams are continuing to push hard for across the negotiating table.

Does the Ministry offer address workload for teachers and principals?

The NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating teams have emphasised throughout negotiations that workload must be addressed in a settlement. The Ministry has made limited offers about CRT.

What happened to the offers the Ministry made last year?

Members voted overwhelmingly to reject both offers last year. They have also voted overwhelmingly to reject the two offers made this year. Any new offers made by the Ministry completely replace the previous offers.

Is there still a bigger pay rise being offered to beginning teachers?

The last offer from the Ministry provided the same pay increase for all teachers. The larger increase for beginning teachers was only in the first offer from the Ministry. Members voted to reject that offer.

Will we get back pay?

This is something that the NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating teams are continuing to push hard for across the negotiating table. The last offer contained only a very small amount of backpay.

What is happening with the career framework development work?

The NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiating teams are continuing to push the need for work to be done to ensure that being a teacher or a principal is seen as an attractive and viable career option. The teams are pushing for this to include a focus on teachers with specialist skills in Māori, Pasifika and special education.