December 2007

Key Points:

• A settlement has been reached in 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).

• The National Executive are recommending acceptance of the settlement to members and a postal ballot for ratification will be held in February 2008.

• The full Terms of Settlement can be found on the support staff page of the NZEI website.  www.nzei.org.nz

• The settlement features a 4% pay increase from 2 January 2008 and a further 2% from 14 January 2009 (excluding therapists), with an expiry date of 1 March 2009 (18 month term).

• The 4% will not be passed on to non members until 1 July 2008 and the 2% in 2009 will not be passed on at all.

• The other key part of the settlement is a commitment to a work programme with tight timeframes and parameters to look at the support staff pay scales.

Dear Members,

The National Executive is recommending the following settlement, which was reached after 11 days of negotiations. Apart from ensuring a decent pay increase, the negotiations focused on securing a point of difference for union members and a Terms of Reference for a work programme on support staff pay scales.

Pay Increase

• 4% Pay increase from January 2008 and a further 2% from January 2009 (excluding therapists), with an expiry date of 1 March 2009 (18 month term)

For Therapists the offer is:

• To delete the bottom step of the pay scale and add an additional top step to bring it in line with the Group Special Education, (GSE) pay scale.
• A 3% increase from January 2008 and a further 2% from January 2009 with an expiry date of 1 March 2009.

Work Programme

In the last two sets of negotiations NZEI has attempted to progress the issue of a work programme that will address the issue of the pay scales and low pay among support staff and the programme has gone nowhere. As a result your NZEI negotiating team wanted a Terms of Reference that will ensure both MoE and NZSTA are committed to any work programme on pay scales and low pay in the sector and we believe that this has been achieved. It was also essential to align the work programme with the government’s budget cycle. As members know it is essential to align any changes to support staff pay with increases to schools’ funding.

The Terms of Reference set dates, deadlines and the work to be done in the Work Programme. It was important that these be spelled out in detail to avoid the delays that we have faced over the past two years. It has been agreed that the Terms of Reference will be in the Collective Agreement and this will ensure commitment by all parties.

The parties are also committed to producing milestone reports to the Minister of Education and a final report going to the Minister on 1 September 2008. This will be used to inform bargaining in 2009.

Union Member Recognition: Point of Difference

One of our major claims was for a point of difference between union members and non union members and this has been achieved. The following wording has been agreed in the Terms of Settlement.

“The work programmes to be undertaken during the term of this agreement are a process of constructive engagement and a significant commitment by NZEI, the SFWU and their members, NZSTA and the Ministry.

Taking this into account, in considering promulgation of an individual employment agreement in this area, as per s.75(3) of the State Sector Act 1988, the Ministry will promulgate an individual employment agreement after the date of signing of the collective agreements, which will not be effective before 1 July 2008.

The promulgated individual employment agreement will contain the 4% increase, which comes into effect in the collective agreement from 2 January 2008. The 2% increase which comes into effect in the collective agreement from 14 January 2009 reflects the commitment made by the unions to the work programme and will not be part of the promulgated individual employment agreement.

In accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000, an employee coming within the coverage clause of this agreement who joins NZEI will be bound by the terms of the conditions of this agreement from the date on which they become a member.

Nothing in this section shall negate the requirements of s.63 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 in relation to new employees.”

In short this means that non union members should not receive the 4% until July 2008 or later and they should not receive the 2% at all.

The settlement is subject to ratification by members and a postal ballot will be held at the beginning of term one 2008. Payment of the 4 % increase will be backdated to the first pay period in January (or the first one for which you are entitled to a payment) but cannot be processed until ratification has been confirmed by members.

Kevin Burrows and Sharyn Gibbons
Executive Officers

Action:

Worksite representatives:

• Distribute this newsletter to all NZEI members covered by the Support Staff in Schools Collective Agreement and the Kaiarahi i te Reo, Therapists’, ATSSD and Special Education Assistants’ Collective Agreement;    or.

• Bring this newsletter to the attention of your support staff contact person who can distribute it to all support staff members in your site.

• Inform non union members that they need to join the union by 2 January 2008 if they want to take advantage of the 4% increase in January instead of waiting until July 2008.
• December 2007
  

Enquiries:

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

For office use:

NZEI Negotiations SSCA/KRCA 2007/08
Page 1 of 3
To: All Schools
Files: 325.20/325.22