Teachers Meet To Vote On New Settlement

Monday July 30 2007

Kindergarten Teachers Meet To Vote On New Settlement

More than 1700 kindergarten teachers will attend 44 meetings around New Zealand organised by their union, NZEI Te Riu Roa over the next two weeks to vote on a ground-breaking new employment settlement.

For the first time, the teachers’ settlement specifies maximum hours of work and contact time with children and protects breaks for professional learning and planning.

In December 2005, kindergarten teachers took strike action over proposed new working conditions because of concern that quality teaching and learning in kindergartens would be undermined. The current settlement took four months of intensive negotiations to reach agreement with the Ministry of Education and the kindergarten associations.

The settlement aims to provide security and stability for teachers during a period of significant change in the sector, including the introduction of the 20 free hours for three and four year olds, NZEI Negotiations Team Leader Judith Nowotarski says.

“The settlement meets the need of kindergartens to offer more flexibility to their communities while meeting the teachers’ requirement to maintain the quality of education provided at kindergartens where operating hours are changing,” Ms Nowotarski says.

The paid union meetings, which teachers are entitled to twice a year under the Employment Relations Act, will begin on Wednesday August 1st and run until August 15th. A schedule of meetings is attached and is also available at www.nzei.org.nz

SPOKESPERSON NZEI Te Riu Roa Kindergarten Team Negotiations Leader Judith Nowotarski

ENDS

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