Teachers' strike to go ahead, despite talks

Teachers still plan to strike this week despite two days at the bargaining table with the Ministry of Education.

There has been continuing industrial action since the teachers' union, the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA), rejected the ministry's latest pay offer last month.

Both parties returned to the bargaining table on Monday in an attempt to prevent strike action on Thursday, but little progress has been made in the two days of talks and hopes of a resolution before the year's end are fading.

In statements this afternoon, the ministry and the PPTA confirmed Thursday's action would go ahead, with both questioning the other's commitment to settling.

PPTA president Kate Gainsford said the union was still at the table, but that the ministry did not appear to be open to any movement.

"We have been bargaining for five long months now and are beginning to question whether there is a genuine commitment from the Government to settle, or whether education is a priority for them at all," she said.

"We have gone back into bargaining on our own initiative with an open approach. The ministry's lack of movements or even willingness to engage in concrete commitments to improvements in conditions is disappointing."

The PPTA's three pivotal demands revolve around teacher conditions, including class size and hours, security of the collective agreement without clawbacks, and pay.

The ministry's group manager education workforce, Fiona McTavish, also said the lack of progress was disappointing.

"We come to bargaining wanting to settle. We've worked hard to address the PPTA's main concerns. We've been clear about the size of the funding envelope, and that we have to work with the PPTA to determine priorities for that funding," she said.

"We feel great frustration for the families, students and schools who will continue to suffer the disruption of strike action for the rest of this term.

"We'll keep encouraging the PPTA to call off its strikes and come back to the table. We want to settle this year, but are unsure of the level of commitment in the PPTA."

- NZPA