Tauranga teachers meet to discuss pay offer and potential strike action

Tauranga's NZEI representative Andrea Andresen. Photo / File

Close to 500 teachers have packed out Tauranga' s Trustpower stadium for the NZEI teachers union meeting.

A number of teachers are standing as seats are full.

Rebecca Holmes from the PPTA said teachers have no other option than to take industrial action.

"The rate educators are leaving the profession makes me question who will be left in the coming years."

NZEI national president Lynda Stuart said the profession was in a crisis and she had never seen the situation as bad as it was.

This afternoon's meeting would be discussing the Government's latest pay offer and the potential of further strike action.

Tauranga's NZEI representative Andrea Andresen said the key purpose of the meeting was to discuss what their next step was.

She said weighing up the Government's latest pay offer would be of high priority, but there would also be a ballot box present to vote on further strike action.

The Government offer on the table is $1.2 billion worth of pay rises and other improvements to terms and conditions for primary and secondary school teachers across the country.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins said $698 million for primary school teachers and principals and $496 million for secondary teachers were good offers and the Government would not be increasing the total amount in this pay round.

"This is by far the biggest offer teachers have had in a decade."

He said while the Government recognises that improving teachers' salaries was important, it's only one part of many other things that need work in the country.

The current teachers' claims would cost the Government $3.9 billion - which on a like-for-like basis was a third of total new Government spending in the last Budget. This was money that had gone to health, police, and children living in poverty, he said.

"Our offers will see most primary school teachers get a pay rise of $10,000 over the next two years."

Education changes since Labour came into Government:

• Committed an extra $500 million to support children with additional learning needs.
• Reduced teacher workload by abolishing national standards.
• Spent $135 million to address short to medium-term challenge of teacher shortages.
• Scrapped the charter school model.
• Introduced a $12 million professional support programme to help teachers get more professional support for digital technologies curriculum.