Celebrating 25 Years of Scoop
Calls for pay trade-off fooled no one
CTU media release
23 October 2009
Calls for pay trade-off fooled no one
Comments by the Prime
Minister to the CTU conference this week that teachers
should trade off their own pay rises to fund fair pay rates
for low paid school support staff were provocative and a
cynical attempt to shift blame for his Government’s
unacceptable approach to support staff negotiations on to
their colleagues, CTU President Helen Kelly said
today.
“The low pay of school support staff is a result of continued undervaluation and gender discrimination in their pay rates,” said Kelly. “Firstly the Government closes down the pay and employment equity unit established to address this type of issue, then it takes a zero pay increase policy and tries to apply it across the state sector regardless of the genuine claims many workers are making, including school support staff. Then it tries to suggest that this is somehow all the fault of the teachers.”
“Yet in the same speech the Prime Minister repeated his desire to see pay rates in this country reach the levels of Australian workers. The mixed message and underlying attempt to deflect the approach of the Government to wage increases that will actually only widen that gap did not convince anyone. I have no doubt teachers will enter into their own wage negotiations seeking resolution of a number of genuine concerns teachers have including pay rates. Short changing teacher pay will not result in fair pay for school support staff and would create a legacy of teacher shortages and ultimately reduced educational achievement.”
“The CTU calls on the Government to think longer-term about its pay policies in the state sector and approach all these negotiations with a willingness to negotiate and find fair outcomes for the workers it employs.”
ENDS
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Te Kauae Kaimahi
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi brings together over 350,000 New Zealand union members in 40 affiliated unions. We are the united voice for working people and their families in New Zealand.
Gordon Campbell: On ACT’s Plans To Strip Away The Rights Of Gig Economy Workers
Te Pāti Māori: Government Warned - Increasing Snapper Quota Breaches Fisheries Settlement
Global Road Safety Partnership: Open Letter To NZ Prime Minister & Minister Of Transport - Grave Concerns Over Proposed Speed Increases
NZ Government: Government Eliminates $190 Million In Trade Barriers To Boost The Economy
Greenpeace: Local Government Freshwater Protections Must Not Be Hamstrung By Anti-nature Government
Otago Museum: Hoiho - The World's Rarest Penguin Takes The Spotlight
Te Pati Maori: Minister Of Injustice Seeks To Entrench Largest Land Confiscation In History
