KEY POINTS:

NZEI Te Riu Roa is convening a nationwide round of paid union meetings to enable members to vote on the proposed claims for the re-negotiation of the Support Staff in Schools Collective Agreement (SSCA) and the Kaiarahi i te Reo, Therapists’, ATSSD and Special Education Assistants’ Collective Agreement (KRCA). A list of the meetings can be downloaded here.
A claims booklet for every NZEI member covered by one of the agreements can be downloaded here (pdf format).
Attendance at Paid Union Meetings is the legal right of all union members. The meetings are a key part of the collective agreement bargaining process and the attendance of members is essential.

ACTION:

Worksite representatives:

Please copy and distribute the following to all NZEI members covered by the SSCA or the KRCA employed at your school:

This newsletter
A copy of the claims booklet
The list of paid union meetings
A pamphlet on why members should attend the union meetings.

A list of NZEI members for your worksite was distributed to you in the last mailout which contained the present SSCA and KRCA agreements.

Support Staff:

Please take the time to read your copy of the claims booklet
Please ensure that you attend one of the paid union meetings
Please bring your copy of the claims booklet with you to the meeting that you attend.

ENQUIRIES:

For further enquiries contact your local NZEI Te Riu Roa field officer, takawaenga or regional office.

23 August 2007

Dear Members,

Your current collective agreements expire on 1 September 2007. NZEI Te Riu Roa has initiated bargaining with the Ministry of Education for the re-negotiation of those agreements - the Support Staff in Schools Collective Agreement and the Kaiarahi i te Reo, Therapists’, ATSSD and Special Education Assistants’ Collective Agreement.

We are now at the stage in the bargaining process when we need all members to become involved. These meetings and negotiations are about your terms and conditions of employment and it is essential you attend a paid union meeting.

This is an important part of the democratic process for union members. You can have your say on the claims and vote on their endorsement.

The numbers of members who attend a meeting send a clear signal to the employer. If a large number of members attend then it shows that the claims are well supported by members. If a small number attend then the employer receives the opposite message. You can support your negotiating team by attending a meeting.

Attendance at paid union meetings is your legal right as a union member. If you have any difficulty being released to attend a meeting, please contact your local NZEI field staff member urgently.

Please take the time to read your copy of the proposed claims booklet carefully. It details the claims proposed for this year’s negotiations by your NZEI negotiating team.

Please bring your copy of the claims booklet with you to your union meeting.

Building our level of union membership is also a very important part of improving our chances of making progress. If there are support staff at your school who are not members, encourage them to attend a meeting. They can join the union at the meeting and, if they do, they will be able to participate in the discussions and the voting on the claims.

Kia kaha, kia toa, kia manawanui

Kevin Burrows and Sharyn Gibbons
Advocates

For office use:

NZEI Negotiations SSCA/KRCA 2007/05
Page 2 of 2
To: All schools
Files: 325.22/325.20