PPTA Te Wehengarua Agrees To Arbitration – Industrial Action Called Off

PPTA Te Wehengarua Executive voted this afternoon to approve an arbitration process aimed at resolving the industrial dispute between secondary teachers and the government.

“We hope an independent arbitration panel will review the matters under dispute fairly and objectively and provide recommendations that would form the basis of a new collective agreement,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president.

“Now that we have agreed on the arbitration process, PPTA Te Wehengarua national executive is calling off all industrial action immediately. There will be no further industrial action while the arbitration process works through to its conclusion.

“We have agreed to immediately withdraw strike action as a gesture of our commitment to this process, however given the timing of this we acknowledge that schools may need time to implement the change."

"We really hope this process will allow teachers to return to a settled environment for the long term and that it will produce a fair and reasonable outcome for PPTA members.”

The three independent arbitration panel members will be announced within the next few days.

The arbitration process will be held in private and is expected to take three weeks from the time the panel convenes, and with a further two weeks following that for the government to respond to its recommendations and for PPTA members to vote on a potential settlement.

Paid union meetings scheduled for next week will still take place. The purpose of these meetings will be to discuss the arbitration process and the move to individual employment agreements for all members from 1 July.

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