Pay offer ‘inadequate’

By Chris Valli

Marlborough teachers will resume strike action after the union advised its members to reject the latest ‘inadequate’ government pay offer.

The ministry made revised offers to primary, area and secondary school teachers last week which the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) and the Educational Institute shared with their members.

The offers included identical pay deals - a lump sum payment of $4500 and three pay rises totalling between 11 percent and more than 16 percent by the end of next year.

Unlike the previous three-year offers, the new offers had a two-year term and provided the first pay rises in June and July rather than backdating them to December 2022.

The unions told their members the changes had allowed the ministry to “front-load” the offer to provide bigger pay rises and lumpsum payments at the start of the agreement.

The Educational Institute said the lump sum payment was about $2500 more than most teachers would have got from backdating the first pay rise to December last year. Non-union members would get $3000.

The union told its members it would not make any recommendations about how to vote, but the PPTA told its members they should reject the offers.

“While there have been some improvements in these offers, in particular equity of non-contact for part-time teachers (from start of 2025) and a salary step increase for relievers (from the start of 2024), the pay rate on offer for the top step has not shifted,” the PPTA told its members.

“These offers are not good enough to justify an ongoing pause on industrial action. This action includes the relief ban, refusal to attend meetings outside regular school hours and rostering home.”

The offers included a pay rise of $4000 or