Part time secondary teachers and their union, the PPTA, warmly invite media to join them at the Employment Court for the first day of hearings for equality.

When: 9.30am Monday 6 May 2019

The day begins with opening statements, followed by our first witness, PPTA advisory officer Rob Willetts.

Where: Employment Court, Ballance St, Wellington (District Court building)

What: The court hearing in the case for pro-rata non-contact time for part time teachers.

Who: Part time teachers Lisa Hargreaves, Pam Foyle, Debra Eno and Leanne Donovan and other expert witnesses.

PPTA vice-president Melanie Webber says, “We have been trying to resolve this injustice for over 16 years.”

“We have developed and offered a myriad of solutions, with different models and flexible options. We have tried righting the discrimination through six rounds of collective bargaining of the Secondary Teachers Collective Agreement. There has been a long term workstream with the education ministry, mediation with the department of labour and a four year pay and employment equity review – and still no justice.”

“There can be no doubt this inequity is deliberate. It’s such a shame our government continues to fight it.”

“The case is simple. Every teacher should earn equal pay for equal work. We believe we have a very strong case and that we’ll win.”