Our campaigns | Ngā whakahau
NZEI Te Riu Roa members campaign for the things that make a real difference for New Zealand's children.
See some of our current campaigns below.
ECE Voice
Early childhood teachers do an incredibly important job. But their pay lags up to 49% behind kindergarten and primary teachers with the same skills, qualifications and responsibilities. That's not OK.
If we want Aotearoa to be the best place in the world to raise a child, valuing all of the teachers that work with them is a great place to start. We're asking the government to act now and fix the gap.
Pay equity
The historic Terranova case made it possible for New Zealand's women to ask for what we're due: equal pay for work of equal value.
NZEI Te Riu Roa members are among the first to use this new process in a series of pay equity claims. Negotiations for teacher aides have begun and work is progressing on our early childhood teachers, kaiārahi i te reo and administration claims.
Making a difference
New Zealanders agree that support staff - teacher aides, administrators, librarians, technicians, kaiārahi and many others - make a real difference to the education of our children and young people.
Support staff voted to accept their collective agreement offer on 10 December 2019. Work is continuing for the teacher aide, administration and kaiārahi i te reo pay equity claims.
Early childhood education
Research shows that children have huge amounts to gain from high-quality ECE which has powerful life-long positive impacts on their health, well-being, and later education. But since 2010, the government's funding decisions have undermined the opportunity for every child to access the very best early childhood education. And while many children get a fantastic early childhood education from qualified, dedicated professional teachers, others can't.
New Zealand can afford to provide quality ECE. That's why we're asking the Government to commit to funding for quality, teacher-led ECE as a right for every child.
Kua tae te wā: It's time
Throughout 2018 and 2019 we made the message loud and clear - it's time. Time to lead, teach and learn. After a determined and united campaign that included three full-day strikes and multiple settlement offers, teachers and principals won pay rises and entrenched parity with their secondary colleagues.
Our work to make our schools amazing places to teach and learn is not over yet. As part of the settlement we agreed to ambitious work through an accord with PPTA and the Ministry of Education. Our work will involve members contributing ideas and opinions to new developments.
Other campaigns
Get to know some of our other campaigns and wins.
Everyone has the right to get an education, but if schools and centres can't support children with additional learning needs, they miss out. We campaign for inclusive education for all children.
In 2016 and 2017, NZEI and PPTA members came together in a historic joint movement to reject bulk funding and demand an end to the operations grant freeze. Two bus tours spread the word to communities all over New Zealand. We won on the issue of bulk funding, but the push for more operational funding continues...
Tick for Kids is a partnership between Every Child Counts (a coalition of organisations and individuals working to secure a positive future for our children led by Barnardos, Plunket, Save the Children, UNICEF and Mana Ririk the New Zealand Medical Association, NZEI Te Riu Roa, Nurses for Children and Young People, the Public Health Association and the Child Wellbeing Network.
The government's proposed Investing in Educational Success (IES) initiative was a plan to put a cadre of highly-paid managers in charge of schools. But we had a better plan.
NZEI Te Riu Roa is a member of Living Wage Aotearoa, a group of unions, community and faith based organisations who have all made a pledge to call on the Government, employers and society as a whole to strive for a living wage for all households
The living wage currently sits at $20.20 per hour. Many educators, particularly support staff and ECE staff, earn below this living wage.
26 for Babies fought to increase paid parental leave to 26 weeks, and in 2017 the new government made this a priority. But it's important to remember that this isn't generous by international standards-we can still do better in length of leave, level of payment, and dedicated provision for fathers/partners.
For Election 2017, our members made sure that education was firmly on the agenda. We quizzed each party on their plans for our kids' learning if they made it into parliament, and we plan to hold them to their promises.