Budgets put staff in competition with toilet paper, union says

Principals are having to choose between buying toilet paper and paying school support staff wages, New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI) president Colin Tarr says.

Mr Tarr was in Nelson yesterday to launch a union petition calling for a government working party to look at alternative funding of support staff wages.

He also spoke at a meeting of Nelson school support staff workers.

Wages are funded from operational funding budgets, which put support staff positions in direct competition with costs such as lighting, heating, and power, Mr Tarr said.

"As a principal which one would you pay for? Your jobs are in direct competition with computers and toilet paper," he said.

Support staff -- including librarians, office managers, and IT staff -- were a vital part of any school who deserved recognition and job security, he said.

Meetings between union representatives and support staff took place in Nelson, Auckland, Wellington, and Feilding yesterday.

They were the first of 123 meetings nationwide, set to take two weeks.

There are 21,500 support staff workers in New Zealand schools.

The meetings will focus on launching the petition, and discussing claims for re-negotiation of the collective contract in August.

The union wants core support staff wages to be paid by central government, while non-core staff could continue to have wages paid by operational funding.

The NZEI hopes to gather 100,000 signatures on the national petition before presenting it at Parliament on support staff day on June 15.

Support staff were also due to discuss a claim for a 6 per cent pay rise, along with provisions for enhanced job security and health and safety concerns in the lead-up to the collective contract re-negotiations.

- NZPA