NZEI Te Riu Roa consulting with members on facilitation

Media release

NZEI Te Riu Roa consulting with members on facilitation

15 May 2019

NZEI Te Riu Roa primary principal and teacher members are being urgently consulted on whether their negotiating teams should return to facilitation with the Ministry of Education through the Employment Relations Authority (ERA).

The Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted, requested that NZEI and the Ministry make a joint application to the ERA, however NZEI says its members need to be consulted on such a decision and therefore the union won't be in a position to respond to the Ministry's request until members have had their say this week.

The Secretary has since advised NZEI that the Ministry will not wait for member consultation to be completed and will instead file a memorandum with the ERA today (Wednesday).

NZEI Te Riu Roa National Secretary, Paul Goulter, says he's disappointed with the Secretary's move and says members have a right to help make such important decisions.

"Members have made every decision in this campaign; it's a fundamental principle of how we operate as a union. The Secretary of Education is riding roughshod over that by going directly to the Employment Relations Authority before members have had their say."

"If there's an improved offer she wants to urgently make , I suggest she just pick up the phone."

ENDS

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