Unions applaud post-primary vote to reject

<p>The Council of Trade Unions said that the PPTA member vote last week to reject their pay offer gives the Government an opportunity repair a decade of neglect in public education&comma; with <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nzei&period;org&period;nz&sol;UploadedFiles&sol;Media&sol;NZEI&lowbar;Teachers&lowbar;Report&lowbar;FINAL&period;pdf" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">strong public support for better investment in teachers and kids<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This &&num;8216&semi;no&&num;8217&semi; vote reflects what has been a slow-burning crisis building up in schools&comma;&&num;8221&semi; CTU Secretary Sam Huggard said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The Government could provide a revised offer to the PPTA that corrects a decade of underfunding and undervaluation of the teaching profession and children’s education&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Coming hot on the heels of primary teachers and principals rejecting their inadequate pay offer and balloting for industrial action&comma; the Government will need to move fast to address workload and pay issues in the education sector that have been left neglected by the previous Government&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We desperately need more teachers across New Zealand&comma; and we need to retain skilled educators in the profession as well&period; Student numbers are climbing and we only get one shot to give teens and upcoming school leavers the best preparation for adult life&period; Our kids&comma; our parents and our teachers don’t want a long process for the Government to provide an adequate offer to educators&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We say get it right now so teachers and students finish 2018 focused on learning&comma; without having to resort to industrial action in our schools&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;