Not sure how many other parents there are here, but this has been ongoing for some months now with no end in sight. I actually wish there was more media coverage to raise awareness of the plight of our teachers.
Yes, it’s frustrating to have our kids home while we’re trying to work etc, and I worry about impact on their schooling (especially when ‘normality’ was starting to return post-COVID lockdowns) but I feel strongly that these teachers are absolutely getting the short end of the stick in the pay negotiations. Keep supporting them where you can, talk to your kids about the whys of what’s going on and cross everything for a positive resolution soon!
My 2c anyway :-)
It is frustrating, and I feel for the kids and their parents. However, I’m hearing a lot of mutterings that the teachers don’t care about the kids and need to stop their strike action. I strongly believe they have no other choice, and all our frustration and anger should be directed at the Ministry.
Schooling is one of the most important things for the betterment of society. Our teachers should be adequately compensated, and not have an unmanageable workload.
Our teachers should be adequately compensated, and not have an unmanageable workload.
It’s really just this and MoE are just doubling down on the opposite for some reason.
All this negotiation is essentially teachers asking for better support (i.e. smaller classes, more teacher aides, more teachers) and cost-of-living adjustments.
The ministry seem to be sitting there yelling “fuck you” back at them.
It really is insane how badly NZ pays their teachers (and nurses, and other essential workers). NZ is haemorrhaging critical talent to Australia and other countries because the government simply doesn’t care about the low wage, high cost of living economy that every regular Kiwi now has to live with.
Frustrating and sad.
Christ, I’ve said it before I’ll say it again.
Teachers, nurses, firefighters: pay them wherever they want, give them whatever they ask for.
This is why you have a local MP, tell them to get the MoE to shut up and pony up.
I couldn’t disagree more. And I say that as someone who is left leaning and thinks we should all pay more tax. And I have sympathy for the teachers, nurses, firefighters, etc.
But at the moment, NZ’s number one priority must be cutting inflation. Otherwise, interest rates keep going up, the price of purchases goes up, and everyone needs another pay rise to keep up. It becomes a vicious cycle.
We’re all feeling the pinch right now, but the more money the government pours out at the moment, the worse this crisis gets.
That’s an argument relevant to the last year or two of excessive inflation.
Irrelevant to the preceding years of excessively low inflation or the preceding decades of more or less just-right inflation.
There are plenty of other areas of government spending that can take the hit of reduced spending other than the wages of teachers, nurses, and firefighters.
I will freely admit, I don’t know a lot about these strikes and I do not have kids, however it seems like teachers strike multiple times a year. I can imagine the frustrating dealt by people actually affected, as I (and again this is my personal selfishness) am pretty fed up hearing about it all the bloody time.
It seems like they don’t have an actual goal with striking, and just strike because it worked last time so why not do it again and get a few more cents added. Why not have a proper strike where they ask for a proper wage once and stick with it instead of these constant strikes?
It could just be the reporting or something, and again, I freely admit I don’t know a lot of about it since it’s such a constant stream of seemingly new strikes that I just pass right by it. I guess it’s a bit like hearing car alarms going off constantly. I no longer pay attention because it happens so often.
There are two teacher unions. One union, which is for primary teachers, accepted an offer after strike action. The secondary school teacher’s union rejected the offer and is thus continuing to strike.
It’s not just about pay. Teachers are expected to do more each year with less, and with low wages. In-classroom, they have less help to deal with disruptive or high-needs students than they used to. Class sizes are larger, in class resources less due to lower funding, more admin, etc.
However pay is a big part. It is common for teachers to be working until 9 or 10 at night, and on weekends, with coursework prep, marking, and other administrative tasks. All of this is unpaid. And the teacher base is shrinking. Why is this happening do you think? Perhaps more pay and more help will encourage teachers to stay in teaching, instead of switching careers or jumping over the ditch.
This is important for all of us. The kids are suffering because the teachers are suffering. NZ educational outcomes will continue to fall if something isn’t done, and this has nothing to do with the strikes themselves.
There are two teacher unions. One union, which is for primary teachers, accepted an offer after strike action. The secondary school teacher’s union rejected the offer and is thus continuing to strike.
That makes sense, thank you. I know I’m very ignorant of the situation, and willingly admit so.
As I said I don’t have kids (and willingly admit I don’t like kids at all), so I tend to blow right by things like this. Kids have never been on my radar, so all I see are the headlines about it. Thank you for the explaination, I hasn’t realized there was more than one teacher union.
All good, I just figured I could add some context.
I will say that kids’ futures do affect all of us, even those who do not have kids. A big thing in the news (and politically) at the moment is the crime rate. Many studies show a strong correlation between reduced crime rates with increase education outcomes. See here for just one of many examples. IMHO we as a society should be invested in education and social support for children especially, even those who will never have kids of their own, as it helps improve society as a whole.
I do appreciate it mate. I do know they can affect all of us, especially if they aren’t being educated properly. I fully agree education is extremely important for any society to succeed. Cheers
So the other person already explained about there being two teachers unions. An anecdote from me, I congratulated my primary kids teachers for reaching an agreement and getting some extra money. They said it’s nice, but they actually were more interested in getting more teacher’s aides, as they felt that is what they need for better results for the kids, and to enjoy their jobs more.
undefined> getting some extra money
Except they aren’t getting extra money, the pay bump doesn’t match inflation so it’s a pay cut.
Summary: The Ministry isn’t accepting reasonable terms so the teachers are striking. Imagine going to your boss, asking for your next pay rise to match inflation, and they say “no”. You’ve effectively got a pay cut. Plus your job is getting harder year on year.
however it seems like teachers strike multiple times a year
It seems this way but strikes only happen when the collective contract comes up for renewal, which is once every three years
When the three years is up the PPTA and Ministry negotiate a new contract. They usually start negotiations long before the contract is going to be renewed. So when the Ministry and PPTA can’t agree, the contract ends up lapsing and PPTA has to pull their trump card: teacher strikes.
It seems like they don’t have an actual goal with striking
Far from the truth. PPTA has clear goals, some of those goals are kept in negotiation and aren’t made public. Sometimes the details are boring. Do you want to read the last contract? Here you go:
Why not have a proper strike where they ask for a proper wage once and stick with it instead of these constant strikes?
Because the Ministry won’t agree to those terms. Tying teacher salary to inflation would be a great goal, but the Ministry won’t accept it. NB: The current proposition from PPTA is for teachers to get a pay bump to match inflation and the Ministry won’t accept.
