Despite two days’ worth of mediation talks between the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) TE Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education, there is still no resolution in the dispute.  What participants are calling “eleventh hour discussions” are still underway and parties are hoping mediation will help them come to terms on the collective agreement concerning primary school teachers.

Mediation talks are scheduled to continue through mid-August, but parents of children enrolled in the affected schools will need to find care for their children if talks do not resolve the issue and a strike is launched.

Contract negotiations include discussion over pay and working conditions.  There are also concerns about a future teacher shortage that would leave the school system unable to deal with the number of students enrolled.

Approximately 80 percent of New Zealand’s primary school teachers are associated with NZEI, but even a strike would not mean that classrooms would shut down.  The ministry warned closure would be an absolute last resort and the decision to close any schools would be left up to the Board of Trustees.  Despite the hope that a strike would not take place, many schools have already issued warning to caregivers that they should expect higher attendance and to parents that they need to find alternate childcare in the event of a strike.  The board has also taken into account what teaching staff would be available should there be a strike.

The current offer from the ministry includes pay rises over three years ranging from 6.1 per cent to a 14.7 per cent rise on the entry salary of $47,980 for university trained teachers, bringing it to $55,030.