“The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi strongly opposes the reintroduction of charter schools in the education system and calls on the Government to withdraw this dangerous bill,” said Acting NZCTU Secretary Erin Polaczuk.

“It is outrageous that David Seymour has said that he is trying to undermine unions by amending the legislation to restrict the ability of unions to initiate bargaining for multi-employer collective agreements involving a charter school.

“We are demanding that the Government protect workers rights to redundancy and collective bargaining, and not breach it’s obligations under both the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the ILO conventions.

“This Bill threatens to introduce a for-profit education model in schools and communities right across Aotearoa, with the potential to fundamentally reshape the education system.

“This significant reform to our education system is being hastily pushed through by the Government, which is restricting the ability for those affected by the Bill to have their say.

“This model is far worse than what was legislated for under the last National government – giving the Minister and ministerial appointees the unilateral power to convert state schools to charter schools without due process and agreement from school communities is unprecedented and contrary to the principles of Aotearoa’s education system.

“Children and parents have the right to expect a high standard of education delivered by qualified teachers and to have a say in how their schools are run.

“We are also deeply concerned that under these proposals charter school sponsors will not be under the same legal obligation as state school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi,” said Polaczuk.

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