Teacher aides, administrative staff, librarians, kaiãrahi i te reo, therapists, science technicians, and other school staff have voted a resounding ‘No’ to the Ministry of Education’s below-inflation pay offer.
“The pay offer fails to account for the harsh reality of the rising cost of living facing our school support staff,” says Ally Kingi, a Teacher Aide and support staff bargaining team member for NZEI Te Riu Roa.
“A below-inflation offer is, in real terms, a pay cut. We call on the government to return to the bargaining table with a fair and reasonable proposal that truly values the vital work done in our schools by teacher aides, therapists, kaiãrahi i te reo and other support staff, and genuinely addresses our cost of living pressures.
“The scrapping of our pay equity claim earlier this year torpedoed the chance to correct teacher aide pay by up to 17 per cent. This new below-inflation offer is the latest example of systemic under-valuing of the essential work done by support staff,” says Ms Kingi.
She said members were also disappointed that the offer failed to significantly address job insecurity and provide the kind of professional learning and development expected for teacher aides.
NZEI Te Riu Roa put the latest offer to a vote, which closed at 4pm on 3 December. The education union has been negotiating with the Ministry of Education on a collective agreement for around 10,000 school support staff since October 2024.
ENDS