What Does NZEI Do?
NZEI negotiates your pay and conditions
NZEI Te Riu Roa negotiates collective agreements for primary and area school teachers and principals, support staff in primary and secondary schools, kaiarahi i te reo and special needs teacher aides, kindergarten teachers and support staff, early childhood education teachers and special education staff in the Ministry of Education's Special Education Group.
All NZEI members are encouraged to participate in the negotiation process. No settlements are final until members have discussed and voted on them.
Employees must join the union if they want to be covered by the collective agreement on their site. NZEI Te Riu Roa also negotiates regional or local collective agreements for advisers/reading recovery tutors in universities, early childhood education teachers and support staff working in both not-for profit and commercial centres.
When an employer is not party to a collective agreement NZEI members work to persuade them to do so.
NZEI provides assistance - 0800 NZEI HELP
Support just a phone call away! NZEI operates a 0800 number to provide ready access to information and assistance.
NZEI employs field staff in offices around the country to assist, represent, advise and advocate for members on all employment and professional matters. The staff include field officers and takawaenga (field staff who work mainly with the miro Māori strand of membership). Each field officer and takawaenga works with a group of branches/aronui tōmua/komiti pasifika and workplaces to organise member activity and provide education and training for member groups.
NZEI Te Riu Roa’s National Office provides support for member activities and campaigns on education policies, curriculum matters, staffing, industrial and other issues through coordination of industrial advocacy, policy development, political lobbying, and communications work.
NZEI is a leading voice in education policy. Staff work to develop policy, analyse and comment on proposals from the Government, Ministry of Education and Teachers Council, and provide seminars and conferences to support members’ professional growth.
Support for the industrial objectives of all members is provided by staff who research, prepare and advocate in the negotiation of all national collective agreements.
Members’ activities are also supported by a Communications team, an Education and Development officer and administrative personnel. The Communications staff maintain the NZEI website, produce Education Aotearoa and other publications, promote NZEI issues to the media and provide media training for NZEI elected officials. The finance and membership service staff keep NZEI’s finances in order and maintain the membership database.
NZEI Te Riu Roa has a respected voice in the education community. Members’ campaigns include organising around collective agreement bargaining, changes to employment legislation, issues such as pay parity and education issues such as school reorganisation, bulk funding and staffing.
The NZEI Lobby Network has contacts in most branches and organises regular meetings with MPs from all political parties to help inform policy-making, raise issues of concern and provide them with an education perspective on wider community issues.
The NZEI Lobby Network has contacts in most branches and organises regular meetings with MPs from all political parties to help inform policy-making, raise issues of concern and provide them with an education perspective on wider community issues.
NZEI provides you with education and professional development opportunities. As a member, you can attend NZEI education seminars and encourage others to take part. The education programmes that NZEI Te Riu Roa provides give members opportunities to gain skills to fully participate in the union, to improve employment relations in the workplace and to increase knowledge of professional issues. These include: Training seminars for worksite representatives, beginning teachers, branch leaders, principals and AP/DPs and unit holders, lobby network members and Membership Support Personnel as well as national conferences for support staff, rural and teaching principals and early childhood teachers.
For many of these education and development programmes, members have the right to paid leave under Employment Related Education Leave (EREL) provisions of the Employment Relations Act.
Provisionally registered (beginning) teachers need extra support when starting out. NZEI worksite representative help Provisionally Registered Teachers (PRTs) into their jobs. NZEI organises PRT seminars locally so that Year One and Year Two teachers can meet and discuss their working conditions, rights and responsibilities, and find out about the support available to them from NZEI.
NZEI provides information booklets for PRTs that can be downloaded on this website or are available from your local NZEI office.
NZEI’s Young and New Members Network also supports new teachers by organising around issues affecting PRTs such as student debt, fixed term agreements and beginning teacher support. Contact us at ymn@nzei.org.nz.
In many cases the worksite representative will be able to resolve a member’s query, professional relationship issue or complaint. In others, field staff or Members Assist can assist. Member Assist are experienced and trained NZEI members who offer personal and professional confidential support and advice. The service is free, confidential and available to all members. The MA work closely with field staff to provide advice on resolving professional difficulties and help communication with colleagues. You can contact your local Member Assist through 0800 NZEI Help.
NZEI is affiliated to the New Zealand Council for Trade Unions (CTU) and is a member of Education International (EI), which represents 30 million teachers and education workers from pre-school to university in 169 countries. NZEI works closely with education employers in Australia and the Pacific through membership of the Council of Pacific Education (COPE).
On a day to day basis NZEI elected officials and staff engage with the Ministry of Education, the Post Primary Teachers’ Association, Education Review Office, the School Trustees Association, the Teachers Council, the Principals’ Federation, and other agencies to promote quality public education and members’ interests.