Mallard confident teachers will accept deal despite strikes

11.50am

Despite this week's wildcat strike action at eight secondary schools, Education Minister Trevor Mallard says he believes teachers will ratify a deal agreed with their union.

The Post Primary Teachers' Association reached agreement in its year-long pay dispute with the Government last Friday, a day before the Labour party's congress in Wellington.

Some MPs and teachers have accused the union of selling out the teachers to give Labour an easy ride.

Teachers at Auckland secondary school Takapuna Grammar walked off the job at 12.00pm today.

Also due to strike this afternoon are teachers at Havelock North High School and Taita College in Lower Hutt.

Three other schools in the Wellington area - Naenae, Aotea and Wellington Girls' - are expected to be hit by walkouts by the end of the week.

Teachers Wellington schools St Catherine's College, Tawa College, Mana College, Wellington High, Hutt Valley High, Wainuiomata High, Sacred Heart and St Orans are believed to be considering similar action.

A wildcat strike at Onslow College in Wellington yesterday forced the school to send home about 1000 students at lunch time. Teachers at Onslow planned to continue strikes through the week.

Mr Mallard told Parliament yesterday he would be happy to visit his old college but "only if the teachers were there".

Teachers at Orewa College in Auckland walked off the job last Friday after hearing of the new agreement.

Mr Mallard told NZPA that his "gut feeling" was a majority of teachers would sign up to the deal, but he had no survey or data to back that up.

Yesterday Mr Mallard brushed off a claim that a teacher union's leader had been offered a parliamentary seat in exchange for settlement of secondary school teachers' pay claims.

National's education spokesman Nick Smith asked in Parliament if it was true that PPTA president Jen McCutcheon "has been promised a future career as a Labour MP should this deal be settled without any further fuss?".

Mr Mallard did not answer Dr Smith's question directly, but said: "There are thousands of people around the country who want to be Labour MPs ... but not Ms McCutcheon this time."

Opposition MPs, and some teachers, have accused the PPTA and Ms McCutcheon of selling out teachers to allow the Labour Party a protest-free congress at the weekend.

They said wildcat strikes by disgruntled teachers showed the deal was inadequate. Mr Mallard defended the settlement and said it offered 385 more teachers beyond the increase needed to meet school roll growth.

The contracts package was subject to ratification by teachers in a postal vote likely to take place within the next two weeks.

The agreement reached between the Ministry of Education and the PPTA includes $30 million more than the amount rejected by PPTA members in a nationwide ballot earlier this year.

Mr Mallard said he regretted he had not done more to sell the deal to teachers.

"I did not make it clear enough there was extra staffing available to deal with workload issues."

The deal was a "different shape to the one reached in December (and rejected in February). It quite closely follows the shape of the PPTA claim although it doesn't go that far".

Mr Mallard told NZPA the claim was settled in the week before the congress because talks had been delayed due to teachers' industrial action.

The offer had been ready for some weeks and once talks resumed, agreement was reached with the PPTA in two days.

Ms McCutcheon today described accusations that the deal was reached to take pressure off the Government as "bizarre".

Dr Smith said he believed teachers would reject the deal as they were being "conned".

"The Government's offer of 5.5 per cent over three years -- just 1.83 per cent a year -- won't even keep pace with inflation," he said.

- NZPA