The Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) say they are making “positive movement” in negotiations with the Government ahead of a planned strike tomorrow.
Around 20,000 PPTA members will take to the streets tomorrow, fighting for better pay and conditions for the workforce.
It's the second strike this month after they joined their primary colleagues on March 16.
With the threat of rolling strikes next term, concerns are growing that a settlement won’t be reached between the two organisations.
While not giving too many details about negotiations, PPTA acting president Chris Abercrombie told Breakfast they were making “positive movement forward”, but there was still “work to do”.
He said there had been a good discussion on some aspects of the claim, but “there’s still a big gap in some areas” - mainly being pay.
“There's still some work to do, so that's why we have to take this industrial action.”
Abercrombie told Breakfast another central issue for the union is recruitment and retention.
He said teaching isn’t being treated as a first-choice career, which means some subjects are lacking specialist teachers.
“Teaching hasn’t been a first choice career; it’s a career I love, I’ve been reaching 18 years, but it’s currently not a first choice career for people currently in the system.”
“[Parents know] what we’re trying to do, and that ensures a subject specialist teacher in front of their child.
“At the moment, there's no guarantee that's going to happen, not just for the children in front of us today, but in five, 10, 15 years.”
The union is also calling for better acknowledgement of how the job has changed over the years, with Abercrombie highlighting the complex needs around anxiety, mental health and neurodiversity.
He wants to see better support in those areas.
“The issues around our community, like anxiety, are reflected in our schools because our schools reflect our community.”
Abercrombie said teachers are “disappointed” to have to engage in an industrial action but said it’s “about more than words at the moment”.
“It's gonna take the Government coming to the table and reaching a settlement.”
He said he’s “optimistic” a settlement can be reached before next term because if not, “teachers can almost double their money by going across the Tasman”.
Education Minister ‘optimistic’
Jan Tinetti said “teachers are absolutely critical” and knows “how important they are”. (Source: Breakfast)
Also speaking to Breakfast, Education Minister Jan Tinetti said she was “optimistic” negotiations will pull through before next term.
“We've had some really good progress in the last couple of weeks, so I remain optimistic.”
She acknowledged that teachers were stretched, which is why she’s engaged with them.
“I keep going back because I absolutely know how difficult it is for our teachers out there at the moment.
“We’ve got to get this right.”
She said “teachers are absolutely critical” and knows “how important they are”.
However, she did say one negotiation round won’t solve all the issues teachers are facing.
“What we’ve got to work out with the negotiating team at this point is.”
“We do have a tight economic outlook in this country; we need to make certain that we are absolutely hitting those points that are going to make the biggest impact on our teachers.
“But what we also need to do is be strategic about this; what is it that we can look at going forward for our teachers to make sure we’re not continually hitting this point every single negotiation.”
She said she’s “absolutely determined” to solve the issue by next term but can’t “100%” say it will happen.
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