5 December 2019
National’s spokesperson for Education Nikki Kaye is concerned for students and parents potentially facing continued
strikes in 2019 as the Government has yet again failed to reach an agreement with both the primary and secondary
education sectors.
“The news late last night that NZEI have overwhelmingly rejected the Government’s third pay offer means that there is a
high likelihood of strikes at the beginning of next year.
“The PPTA have also confirmed that they have rejected the Government’s third secondary offer and are also likely to be
heading towards strikes early in 2019.
“13 months in and the Government continues to blame National rather than recognise it has been gifted billions of
dollars to bargain in good faith with and could use to resolve issues of supply, workload and pay. National did not have
the choices that this Government has - this Government announced more than $900 million of expenditure in November
alone.
“This is why it’s hard to believe Mr Hipkins when he says there is ‘no more money’. Now, despite a lot of talk in
Opposition, Labour have taken teachers for granted and favoured tertiary students by using huge amounts of education
cash on a failed fees free policy.
“Both the primary and secondary education sectors have a raft of issues that they have raised in their claims which have
not been addressed including recruitment and retention issues.
“Yesterday in Parliament the Minister tried to claim there are around 200 vacancies in secondary schools, but principal
surveys indicate this number is more likely to more than 1400. It is clear the Minister is out of touch with the very
real situation in many schools.
“Earlier this year National confirmed our position regarding supporting a reduction in class sizes which would help with
teacher workload. Despite campaigning on this in Opposition for many years the Government and some Labour MPs
campaigning at the election the Government has not shifted on this in collective bargaining.
“With both primary and secondary schools striking, parent’s and families will be feeling uneasy about going into the
holiday break knowing that another year of disruption in schools is ahead of them.
“The prospect of school wide strikes means that the Minister of Education and the Ministry of Education should be
working through the summer break to try and prevent multiple strikes in 2019. We need these issues resolved so there is
no further impact on students.”
ends