Hourly rate 'insulting'

BY KRISTINA RAPLEY

They could earn more money scrubbing toilets or flipping burgers.

School support staff feel undervalued, unappreciated and angry - and they are doing something about it.

Tomorrow there will be a march and rally in downtown Auckland for support staff, teachers, principals and community supporters, to send a message to the government about fair pay.

Support staff such as teacher aides, librarians, nurses, office managers and sports co-ordinators are among the lowest paid workers in the country.

Many earn as little as $12.94 an hour.

They have been fighting for years to have their skills acknowledged and valued, but the government is refusing to negotiate their pay.

The New Zealand Education Institute has been fighting with the government over pay negotiations since last November.

Field officer Peter Hughes says "it's insulting".

"Caretakers and cleaners' base rates are $14.64. How do you attract people to these roles when the base rate is $12.94 an hour?"

He says it's often the support staff who are the ones to go above and beyond the call of duty.

"They are exploiting the good will of support staff who will always put the children first."

Support staff wages come out of school operational funding which changes from year to year depending on how much money there is to go around.

The institute says the wages should come out of central funding like teachers' wages.

Mr Hughes says he hopes the march will send a clear message to the government and that strike action will be avoided, but it will be considered as a last resort.

"A significant number of them actually pay for their own specialised training as well, to become better at what they do and better equipped to deal with children with language difficulties or special needs for example.

"That's the kind of commitment they have."

Pakuranga Intermediate support staff worker Olive Wallace says most workers are highly regarded within their school communities and have support from the principals and fellow teachers.

"The fight hasn't even begun, we are just getting ready," she says.

Sheryl Miller, also at Pakuranga Intermediate, says she would never consider a career change but it's hard when you don't feel valued.

"I love what I do, but at the same time, I've got a family, and bills to pay, and for what I'm doing I should be getting paid a lot more."

The government says there can be no consideration of a pay rise without evidence of productivity, but support staff say the effects of their job are difficult to measure in numbers.

"Sometimes it's not the academic benefit that's important, it's the social skills as well, and how the students will fit in with their peers and their community," Mrs Miller says.

"Parents of special needs children will tell you how much they benefit from their time spent with us."

The Fair Deal march starts at 11.30am in Queen Elizabeth Square, downtown Auckland, moving up Queen St, with a rally at Myers Park at 1pm with a free barbecue.

There will be a bus leaving from Pakuranga Intermediate on Reeves Rd, and supporters are welcome to go along. It will be leaving at 11am and returning at 2.30pm.

Phone Olive on 021-213-1711 for more information.

For more information about the Fair Deal campaign visit www.fairdeal.org.nz.

- © Fairfax NZ News