NZEI Educators Join Chain Of Solidarity To Mark International Workers’ Day

NZEI Te Riu Roa teachers and educators, alongside students and whānau, stood shoulder-to-shoulder this morning with nurses and other frontline workers in a chain of solidarity to mark International Workers’ Day.

At 7am, participants linked hands to form a human chain from Newtown School to Wellington Regional Hospital.

“Today, on May Day, we stand in solidarity to celebrate workers and honour the legacy of those who fought for the rights we hold today,” NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ripeka Lessels said. “Our current reality is that our hard-won rights are under attack by a government intent on dismantling worker protections.”

Mrs Lessels said educators are being challenged like never before.

“From the gutting of the Pay Equity Act – which overnight dismissed 34 live claims, including those for primary and early childhood education teachers, and removed the right to review settlements for teacher aides, kaiārahi i te reo, librarians, science techs, and therapists – to the Public Service Commissioner’s attempt to undermine primary teachers’ collective bargaining by promulgating Individual Employment Agreements, to scrapping pay parity for ECE beginning teachers and relievers, and the rushed, ideologically driven curriculum overhaul, we have never had more reason to stand together.

“When the government changes the law to avoid paying women workers fairly and ignores the collective voice of teachers, they threaten the quality of education for every tamaiti,” Mrs Lessels said.

Robyn Brown, a member of the NZEI Te Riu Roa Principals’ Council, said it was unacceptable for educators to be undervalued while the government prioritises tax cuts over the needs of our tamariki.

“That is why we are proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with nurses and fellow frontline workers in this powerful cross-union show of solidarity,” Ms Brown said.

NZEI Te Riu Roa national member leader Mark Potter said: “Our message today is simple: we are united, we are organised, and we will continue to fight for the respect, resources, and fair conditions that every educator in this country deserves.”

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