Primary teachers and principals reject Ministry's latest offer
5 December 2018

Primary teachers and principals have overwhelmingly voted to reject the Ministry’s third round of offers, in a secret online ballot that closed last night.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Lynda Stuart said the message from members was that the offers still did not do enough to fix the crisis in teacher recruitment and retention.

"The big concern for members was that the offers had nothing that would give teachers more time to teach or principals time to lead.

"From the beginning of this process we've been clear that to attract and retain teachers we need to be paid fairly and have the time and support to ensure every child gets the best possible education."

"While the latest offer for teachers included a total salary increase of approximately $9,500 - $11,000 over three years, it failed to address the important issues of time and class size, which underpin the crisis in education," she said.

"Disappointingly, we end this year without the necessary movement from the Government, and with still not enough to meet the needs of children, schools and teachers."

NZEI has informed the Ministry and Minister of the outcome of the ballots, and will seek further negotiations immediately, requesting a new offer by early in Term 1 to bring back to members.

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