Negotiations still underway for teachers & principals

<h2>21 days and counting for the education sector&comma; as hope for a settlement following strike action persists&comma; and public support continues to build&period; <&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>Principals were in negotiations this morning &lpar;Monday&rpar;&comma; while teachers&&num;8217&semi; negotiations have been scheduled for Thursday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Teachers&&num;8217&semi; lead negotiator Liam Rutherford said&colon; &&num;8220&semi;We have been through extensive negotiations&comma; clocking up 10 days of talks for teachers&comma; and another 10 days of talks for principals&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Principals&&num;8217&semi; lead negotiator Louise Green said they continued to strive for a negotiated outcome&comma; although the lack of a new offer since June had taken its toll on the morale of the negotiating teams&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We are hopeful for some improvement this week&period; Public support for teachers has been overwhelming&comma; giving the Government all the permission it needs to address the teacher shortage crisis&comma; improve support for children with additional learning needs and improve class ratios&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Our members were heartened to hear from the Prime Minister last week&comma; and we are hoping her involvement will make a positive difference in the negotiation room this week&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Ms Green&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>There had been some incorrect remarks made about the union leaving the negotiating table&comma; Liam Rutherford said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We have never left the bargaining process&period; There were even informal meetings on the Monday and Tuesday before the strike&period; We have attended mediation&comma; and this week have negotiations booked for both principals and teachers&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said Mr Rutherford&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Meanwhile&comma; it has been reported in the media last week that a 14 percent pay offer was on the table&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We want to be clear about this &&num;8211&semi; for 85 percent of teachers the offer is only just over 2 percent a year &&num;8211&semi; which is not dissimilar to a cost of living increase&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;A larger increase has been offered to beginning teachers but would only bring their starting salary to above the average median&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;