Learning support professionals believe they have been left behind in pay and working conditions, while their sector counterparts have made significant strides towards meeting their requests. Last week, primary and intermediate teachers took industrial action and teacher aides won their right to pay equity.
It is this which prompted the educational psychologists, early intervention teachers, advisers on deaf children, Kaitakawaenga, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech language therapists and special education advisers to take to the streets around the country yesterday, following the results of a secret ballot that closed on Monday.
NZEI Te Riu Roa national executive member Byron Sanders is on the negotiation team and said the members' vote was a strong one, and a clear indication of the anger felt about the ministry's offer to them of a 2 per cent pay increase on the day of ratification and a further 2 per cent on March 1, 2019.
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"After months of waiting for the ministry to come to the negotiating table, our members were insulted by the offer. Our caseloads are overwhelming. We need something tangible from the ministry to reduce our workload, and an improved pay offer," he said.