BoP teachers plan more pickets over 1% pay offer

Picketers during the Western Bay of Plenty Post Primary Teachers’ Association strike on Wednesday, August 20, against the 1% pay rise offer from the Government. Photo / Ayla Yeoman

Bay of Plenty secondary school teachers plan ongoing morning pickets in response to the Government’s offer for settlement of their collective agreement negotiations.

Following their national strike last Wednesday, Post Primary Teachers’ Association Te Wehengarua (PPTA) members would continue to hold smaller morning pickets around the region before school starts for the remainder of Term 3.

The Government offered a 1% pay rise in collective agreement negotiations in July, an offer the PPTA said was the “lowest in a generation”.

Picketing has been arranged before school starts at locations around Tauranga, Rotorua and Whakatāne:

• Outside Mount Maunganui College on Maunganui Rd on Wednesday mornings;
• Near Pāpāmoa College on Thursday mornings at the Tara Rd roundabout;
• Outside Ōtūmoetai College on Windsor Rd on Thursdays, 8-8.20am;
• Tauranga Girls’ College on Cameron Rd on Wednesdays, 8.15-8.30am;
• Te Puke High School on the corner of Tui St and Cameron Rd on Wednesday, August 27 with further dates to be confirmed;
• In Rotorua outside Lakes High School and on the corner of Malfoy Rd and Old Taupo Rd from 7.30am for 30-40 minutes;
• In Whakatāne at the Mokorua Rd and Valley Rd roundabout from 7.30am.

Western Bay of Plenty PPTA regional chairwoman Julie Secker said these picket days were to keep the issue in the public eye, following last week’s “successful” strike day.

“We want to continue to bring awareness to our message that teachers matter, that public education is a priority, and about all of this, our students deserve a lot better than what they are getting at the moment.”

Bay of Plenty regional PPTA chairwoman Kim Wilson said the picketing would continue for the next four weeks.

She said these actions would aim to “continue to generate public awareness about the under-resourcing of public education, which pertains directly to the secondary teacher collective agreement claims”.

An August 13 statement from Public Service Minister Judith Collins and Education Minister Erica Stanford condemned the “disruptive” strike and encouraged the PPTA to return to the negotiation table.

They said the offer of a 3% increase over three years, in addition to annual pay progression of 4-7.5%, reflected fiscal constraints and teachers’ “substantial” recent pay increases.