Teachers seeking pay rise of 4pc

Eighteen thousand teachers are due to hear whether they will get a pay rise - or if strike action is on the cards.

The Post Primary Teachers Association will present its claim to the Ministry of Education on Monday asking for a base scale increase of 4 per cent for a one-year term, with an additional 1 per cent employer contribution to KiwiSaver.

Other parts of the claim focus on employment conditions and responsibilities, building and maintaining capacity in the profession and student and teacher learning conditions.

The union is asking for a reduction in class size averages to no more than 26 students with a maximum for any class of 30 - and 24 in classes where there are identified hazards such a science labs or workshops.

Some of the other requests include laptops and immunisation being paid for by all boards, aligning travel allowances with IRD, addressing domestic/sick leave inequities and removing gender discrimination in the secondary teachers' collective agreement.

PPTA president Kate Gainsford said it would be a matter of waiting and seeing what was offered back. "In the past it's taken a long time but we are expecting to hear back quickly this time. They have sent signals to us that this would be the case."

When asked about the possibility of teachers striking if the negotiations don't go well, Ms Gainsford said it was an option available.

"That's enshrined in legislation, that entitlement, but that would be a way off. We do have to see what happens when we table our claim and when we receive the minister's claim. That's the due process and that's the process we will follow."

Ms Gainsford said there had been mixed signals in the past year as to what money was actually available. While there had been indications the Government wanted to invest in education, there had also been strong hints that money was scarce.

Ms Gainsford said the PPTA had looked at the way other countries had responded to the recession when drawing up their claim. Some had "chosen to invest in education as a way out of the economic crisis" while others had made cuts.

"I suppose we have yet to have revealed to us exactly which way this Government is going to go - whether they are going to cut or significantly invest."

Education Minister Anne Tolley had no new comments to make on the pending negotiations beside referring to a speech she gave to the First Time Principals Conference last month.

She said at the time the negotiations would need to reflect the current economic climate.

"New Zealand is just starting to recover from the economic recession and we need to be very careful about what our priorities are for the education spend."

Ms Tolley said that in the 2007 bargaining round, teachers gained an increase of 4 per cent each year for three years.

"Can I tell you that 2010 is a very different environment. Every 1 per cent pay increase for primary, secondary and early childhood teachers costs taxpayers an extra $50 million per year. Everyone is exercising restraint."

Finance Minister Bill English also indicated this week that claims of up to 4 per cent were unlikely to be well received in this economic climate. "It is not reasonable ... when most taxpayers would be getting either no pay rises or much lower pay rises."