South Auckland early childhood teachers and their employer, Early Learning Counties Manukau, are celebrating a bold new
collective agreement that delivers significant progress toward pay parity with kindergarten and primary teachers.
The pay gap between ECE teachers and their colleagues in these other settings has grown by as much as 49% over the past
decade.
The collective agreement signed between the Early Learning Counties Manukau centres' teachers and their employer this
week includes six pay steps that will put the teachers on the same salaries as similarly qualified and experienced
kindergarten and primary teachers.
The agreement, which comes into force in September, anticipates the Government's funding increases in January 2022 for
employers who 'opt-in' to paying their teachers in line with at least the first six pay steps of the Kindergarten
Teachers' Collective Agreement.
"We’re pleased we could come together as teachers to create a new collective agreement that includes and exceeds the
Government’s pay parity steps", says Amy Haigh, a teacher at ELCM Takanini.
"Although there’s more work to do, this agreement provides a pathway toward properly valuing our work as ECE teachers -
something our sector absolutely needs to do if we're to address the critical shortage of teachers we currently have in
ECE. As teachers, we hope this sends a positive signal to other teachers across the sector about the power of acting
together in union to achieve better pay and conditions."
"I appreciate that this is a step toward pay parity for our teachers, and we value being able to work with our teachers
to achieve this progress", says Calmar Ulberg, CEO of Early Learning Counties Manukau. "Recruitment and retention of ECE
teachers is a challenge in the current funding climate and we are proud to be part of work towards improvements that
ensure great teachers are attracted to the sector."
The new collective agreement - the first in the ECE sector for many years - will take effect on 27 September 2021 for an
initial term of two years. The teachers' new collective agreement also includes pay increases for more experienced
teachers, and a second, separate agreement offered by ELCM recognises the important leadership role of centre managers
within the organisation.