Secondary teachers’ collective agreement ratified

Secondary teachers’ collective agreement ratified

April, 2011

Post Primary Teachers’ Association members ratified a collective agreement with the Ministry of Education with 86 percent support.

PPTA president Robin Duff said teachers would see pay scale increases of up to three percent, a one-off lump sum payment, extra time for heads of department to support new teachers, additional relief days for kapa haka and Polyfest and the introduction of sabbaticals.

Members were pleased the ministry of education claw backs on class size and workload had been driven off the table said president Robin Duff.

“The settlement has been challenging in an earthquake-stricken economy but we’ve achieved significant gains for our members.”

“We’re sympathetic to the plight of our colleagues in Canterbury . These teachers need stability and certainty and our members have been realistic about the financial climate post earthquake,” he said.

The agreement signalled a major change because PPTA were able to negotiate pay scales to best suit secondary teachers rather than having them determined by the NZEI primary entrenchment clause.

“This could not have been achieved under a Labour government,” he said.

The agreement would be effective from 13 April 2011.

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