Union Submits Complaint About Charter School Legislation Employment Violations To International Labour Organisation

New Zealand’s largest education union, NZEI Te Riu Roa, says that the Government's new charter school legislation violates international labour laws and teachers' work rights. The union has laid a complaint with the International Labour Organisation.

Stephanie Mills, National Secretary of NZEI Te Riu Roa, says the new legislation prioritises profit-making over children's education and teachers’ work rights.

“We fundamentally oppose this privatisation of public education because we, alongside most New Zealanders, believe that public investment and government effort needs to prioritise building a quality public education system that benefits all mokopuna in Aotearoa."

The complaint, supported by PPTA Te Wehengarua and lodged by the NZ Council of Trade Unions, says that the new legislation directly contravenes New Zealand’s commitments under Article 1, Paragraph 1 of ILO Convention 98, which requires signatory nations to provide adequate protection against anti-union discrimination in employment.

The unions say two parts of the new legislation violate international law: one which extinguishes the rights of educators to maintain their collective agreement if their public school converts to a charter school, and another which prohibits unions from initiating multi-employer collective bargaining.

Strong partnerships and fair collective bargaining relationships between unions and governments are a feature of high-performing education systems globally. The OECD has said that: “the better a country’s education system performs, the more likely that country is working constructively with its unions and treating its teachers as trusted professional partners”(OECD 2011.)

Ms Mills says reducing the rights of educators to come together to win fair pay, job security, time to plan and assess learning and learning supports that are vital for children’s education sends a message that the Government is more interested in supporting private “sponsors” to make money than in building a world class public education system.

“Collective agreements are important for pay, and most people agree that teachers do a tough job and should be paid for it. They’re also important because they allow for things like classroom release time or cultural leadership allowances – these are important conditions that allow teachers to plan lessons for ākonga or that recognise the cultural knowledge kaiako bring to the job. These are things people have collectively fought for through bargaining, and they make a positive impact on the learning of our students.”

Global union federation Education International has also got behind the complaint, submitting a letter of support to the ILO this week.

“This is a significant development. Global education workers have recognised the need to shine a light on the erosion of New Zealand teachers’ working rights and fight against legislation which seeks to discourage educators collectively advocating for quality education.”

The submission letter can be read here.

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