$7.5m to give teachers a bonus for signing their pay contract

The Government will pay $7.5 million in bonuses to secondary teachers' union members if they accept their pay deal.

The $270 million contract negotiated between the Post Primary Teachers Association and the Education Ministry offers each of the PPTA's 15,000 members $500 if they sign the three-year contract.

National's education spokesman Bill English said yesterday that the offer was a bribe.

"They [the Government] seem very keen to get the deal done," he said. "Parents want to see teachers rewarded for competence and hard work, not for union membership."

About 3500 secondary teachers who are not PPTA members would not receive the bonus, although they are covered by the same salary agreement.

PPTA president Phil Smith dismissed Mr English's claim that the payment was a bribe.

And the association's Canterbury region chairwoman, Jacinta Grice, said members had been told the $500 was a "reward" for signing a three-year contract.

Previously, secondary teachers' contracts were negotiated every two years.

"I was under the impression that it was in appreciation for looking at a long-term contract," she said.

"That will allow the Government to know exactly how much teachers' salaries are going to cost for the next three years."

The contract offers teachers salary increases of between 8.74 per cent and 13 per cent over three years.

- NZPA