Teacher salary negotiations stall

Negotiations between the Ministry of Education and the union representing secondary school teachers have stalled, with the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) walking away from the bargaining table after what it calls 13 fruitless sessions.

"The ministry has had a month since members overwhelmingly rejected its unacceptable offer and it has come back to the table with nothing new - we are not going to waste members' time and money talking about the same thing over and over," PPTA president Kate Gainsford said.

The ministry's group manager of education workforce Fiona McTavish said the Government could not afford the generous teacher salary increases of recent years but there was no justification for either party to walk away.

"The ministry's offer is entirely realistic in the current economic climate, especially considering the teacher salary increases of recent years. We're disappointed the PPTA doesn't recognise this," she said.

Ms Gainsford said the ministry appeared to have no will to address teachers' concerns and continued to undervalue teachers.

"There has been 13 days of negotiation over the past three months and we are getting nowhere. In 2004 it took 13 days to reach an agreement which brought industrial peace and a plan for the future - at the moment it appears they have no plan at all," she said.

PPTA members have asked for a settlement asking for health and safety concerns, and teaching and learning conditions to be addressed, all clawbacks to be removed, and a remuneration package that values the job teachers do.

The ministry has asked the union to return to negotiations.

The PPTA says it will return to the bargaining table when it sees a genuine willingness to problem-solve from the ministry.

- NZPA