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Our campaigns:

  • Primary
    • Wāwāhi Tahā – Time For Tamariki
    • Te Ao Kei Tua – Our Schools, Our Communities, Our Future
  • Pay equity
    • Pay equity for Kaiārahi i te Reo
    • Pay equity for school administration staff
    • Pay equity for teacher aides
  • Support staff
    • Pay equity for school administration staff
    • The road to pay equity for teacher aides
  • Early childhood
    • Shaping our future: A ten-year plan for ECE
    • Pay equity for ECE
    • Have a Heart pledge
  • Inclusive education
    • Inclusive Communities through Education Summit
    • Education for All
  • All campaigns

Pages

  • A Better Plan/Joint Initiative
    • Joint Initiative: What we’ve learned so far
  • Admin Pay Equity Typeform
  • Better Funding, Better Learning
    • Better Funding Paid Union Meetings, 2016
    • Better Funding Roadshow 2016
    • The Better Funding Heartland tour, 2017
  • Change Membership Information
  • COVID-19 information for members
    • Health and Safety
    • Life at Red | Guidance for Primary Teachers
    • Life at Red | Guidance for ECE Teachers
    • Life at Red | Guidance for Principals
    • Testing Guidelines
    • Vaccination Guidelines
  • Election 2020
  • Every child is worth it
    • Every Child Is Worth it launch
    • Get the government to keep their promise on ECE – Sign the Petition
    • Have a Heart pledge
    • July 2019 proposed settlement to kindergarten teachers
    • Shaping our future: A ten-year plan for ECE
    • Thanks for signing our ECE petition
    • Unions and ECE
  • Get Goodies
  • Get Help
  • Get Involved
  • Global Custom Fields
  • Home
    • Learning Support Workers Strike Dates
  • Inclusive education
    • Inclusive education: Education for All activities, September 2016
    • Inclusive education: Inclusive Communities through Education Summit, May 2017
  • Initial Teacher Education (ITE) 2040
  • It’s time—Kua tae te wā
    • August 2019 settlement to primary principals
    • Budget 2018
      • Thanks!
    • Campaign plan and claims—Kua tae te wā
    • Campaign resources
      • Area School paid union meetings – March 2019
      • Area School Teachers Collective Agreement – Our Claim
      • Contact your local MP
      • Frequently asked questions
      • November rolling strikes – events and rallies
      • Paid union meetings – May 2019
      • Paid union meetings map – May 2019
      • Primary Principal and Teacher Negotiation FAQs
      • Primary school paid union meetings schedule – May 2019
      • Support Staff, Boards and Strikes
      • Understanding strikes
      • Understanding strikes
    • Check your school’s strike day
    • First offer to principals and teachers
    • It’s the end of term! Send your favourite teacher a postcard
      • Thank you for sending your postcard
    • It’s Time: Community action planning
    • June 2019 proposed settlement to primary principals
    • June 2019 settlement to primary teachers
    • March 2019 offers to principals and teachers
    • Meetings and information for MoE Support Workers
    • November offer to principals and teachers
    • Petition: Supporting primary teachers and principals
    • Postcard to Grant Robertson
    • Postcard to the Secretary of Education
    • Primary principal paid union meetings August 2019
    • Primary teachers and principals Accord
    • Principals’ survey: Intentions for 2017
    • Principals’ survey: intentions for 2018
    • Principals’ wellbeing
      • Principal wellbeing report
      • Your report is on the way
    • Second offer to principals and teachers
    • Sign on to support our principals
    • Strike Action Ideas
    • Strike Day Deductions
    • The terms of settlement for Ministry of Education Support Workers
    • Update following talks with the Minister of Education
    • Voting on the new offers – electronic ballot
    • We’ll miss them when they’re gone
    • What’s next for principals
    • Workload Caseload Review
  • Join NZEI Te Riu Roa
  • Join NZEI Te Riu Roa
  • Kindergarten paid union meetings
  • Kindergarten paid union meetings map
  • Kindergarten paid union meetings schedule
  • KTCA Stories
  • Learning Support Members – Strike Ballot FAQs
  • Member Induction
  • NEN Hui 2020
  • Next steps for teachers – Contact your local MP
  • Paid Union Meetings for primary and area school teacher worksite representatives
  • Pay equity
    • Fair’s fair – Mana Taurite: Getting involved
    • One year of negotiations for support workers: send a postcard
      • Thank you for sending your postcard
    • Pay Equity Amendment Act
    • Pay equity for Kaiārahi i te Reo
    • Pay equity for school administration staff
    • Pay equity for support workers settlement
    • Pay equity now—join the movement for fair pay for ECE
    • Pay equity pledge for early childhood and schools
    • Pay Equity Work Assessment
    • Suffrage day 2019
    • Support Staff Pay Equity Quiz
    • Teacher aide paid union meetings
    • Teacher aide pay equity – information for principals, EOs and SENCOs
    • Teacher aide pay equity – invite a teacher aide to receive updates
    • Teacher aide pay equity – register for a Zoom hui
    • Teacher aide pay equity settlement
    • The pay equity pledge – Pay equity
    • The road to pay equity for teacher aides
  • Pay Equity – Pledge Map
  • Pay equity DRAFT
  • Principals Hauora Survey
  • Principals Kit
  • Principals’ and teachers’ wellbeing survey
  • Pūaotanga Report
  • Public Sector Pay Initiative
  • School Report Card
  • Special Screening: Wāwāhi Tahā – Time for Tamariki
  • Suffrage Day
  • Support our campaign
  • Support staff
    • Letter to Iona Holsted from annualised support staff
    • Making it Possible: Support Staff Day 2018
    • Support Staff – Contact your local MP
    • Support Staff – Paid union meetings
    • Support Staff – Paid union meetings October 2019
    • Support staff – share your story
    • Support staff – sign on to make a difference
    • Support Staff Day 2019 – Making a Difference
    • Support staff need fair pay! Sign the open letter to the Education Minister
    • Support staff proposed terms of settlement 2019
    • Support Staff Resources
    • Support Staff Week 2020 – Celebrating the wins
    • Support Staff Week 2021 – Building the Future
    • Support staff: 101 reasons why
    • Teacher aide PLD
    • Thank you for sharing your story
    • Thank you for signing on to make a difference
    • Thanks for signing the open letter to Minister Hipkins
    • Walking in the shoes of support staff
  • Support Staff – Paid union meetings October 2019 schedule
  • Support Workers Pay Equity Ratification Meetings
  • Te Ake Rautangi
  • Te Ao Kei Tua – Our Schools, Our Communities, Our Future
  • Teacher Time Diaries
  • Teachers Time Diaries – Thank you!
  • Teachers Time Diaries Results
  • Test – Staffing Calc Page
  • Test page
  • Test Petition Embed Page
  • Tomorrow’s Schools Submission
  • Tomorrow’s Schools Submission – Thank you
  • Vote for Me: —our campaign for Election 2017
  • Wāwāhi Tahā – Time For Tamariki
    • Wāwāhi Tahā Community Launch Sign up form
  • It’s time to update your contact details
  • Thank you for updating your contact details
  • Mana Taurite – ECE employers
  • Pay equity for ECE – Information for employers and governance boards
  • Pay equity for ECE – Work Assessment: Information for interested participants
  • The road to pay equity for ECE
Support staff brand

Tips for contacting your MP

We need the government to listen to us, understand what we're saying, and take the bold action needed to address our claims for fair pay and fair work.

As support staff, we each have our own personal stories from our work. It's those real stories that we want you to share with your local MP.

This page is here to help you think about the best ways of communicating your story to your MP.

Crafting your messsage

Useful themes

Our jobs and the problems we face are complicated - and that can be really hard to communicate.

We have been clear that for too long, the crucial work of school support staff has been undervalued and insecure from one term to the next. If we want to value our children, we need to value our support staff.

This message has been really clear since the beginning and something the public has resonated with.

We need a long term solution for pay and job security and we need the government to step up and show that we are being valued.

When contacting an MP, think of how your story can illustrate one or more of these key themes.

Keep it simple

You can't cover everything in one contact.

The most powerful messages are often the shortest. Think of a story you have that might illustrate some of our broader themes and tell it as simply as possible.

Maybe you have an example of the pressures you face in school or regarding job security. Perhaps you have a story of a compromise you or your school has had to make. Or perhaps you've faced financial hardship because of rising living costs.

Put children at the centre

We put children at the centre of what we do every day - it's important we keep doing that when we communicate.

This campaign is about valuing those who make a difference for our children. It is important that we remind people that we're not just in this for ourselves, but for the country's children.

When communicating with your MP, tell them how the issues you're raising might have an impact on children's learning, or let them know the lengths you're having to go to in order to make sure children's learning isn't impacted.

Collective agreement and pay equity

We are currently working towards both a collective agreement settlement for all support staff and a pay equity settlement for teacher aides, with pay equity claims for other support staff roles.

Teacher aides are forging the pay equity path, so other support staff claims processes will be quicker. We need to put pressure on the government to get a settlement for teacher aides and a timeline for other support staff claims as soon as possible.

Make sure that when you are contacting your MP that you are clear about whether you are talking about your collective agreement negotiations or pay equity.

Understand your audience

MPs get a lot of correspondence, but they're more likely to be receptive if you've taken the time to learn more about them.

Take a bit of time to find out more about your MP and the issues they care about. And keep it polite!

If your local MP is in opposition (National), ask them what they're doing to put pressure on the Government. If you're talking to a Government MP (Labour, NZ First or Greens), ask them what they are doing to push for change with their colleagues.

Don't forget to be professional in your correspondence with your local MP. You want them to hear and understand your frustrations without anything being taken out on them.

How to contact your MP

Email 

Use this tool to find your electorate MP or Minister and send them an email.

Your message will be sent from this address
If you don't know the electorate you can find it here.

Social media

These days, MPs are highly engaged on social media, so this is a great, direct medium to communicate with them. Find out who your MP is, then search for them on Facebook or Twitter and send them a message or public post. Make it even more engaging by including a photo. Use the hashtags #fairsfair and #manataurite.

If you don't know your electorate, find it here.

Phone

Sometimes a good old fashioned phone call is the best way to communicate. To talk to an MP or their office, find out who your MP is, then phone Parliament on 04 817 9999.

If you don't know your electorate, find it here.

Find your local MP
Find your electorate

Pages

  • A Better Plan/Joint Initiative
    • Joint Initiative: What we’ve learned so far
  • Admin Pay Equity Typeform
  • Better Funding, Better Learning
    • Better Funding Paid Union Meetings, 2016
    • Better Funding Roadshow 2016
    • The Better Funding Heartland tour, 2017
  • Change Membership Information
  • COVID-19 information for members
    • Health and Safety
    • Life at Red | Guidance for Primary Teachers
    • Life at Red | Guidance for ECE Teachers
    • Life at Red | Guidance for Principals
    • Testing Guidelines
    • Vaccination Guidelines
  • Election 2020
  • Every child is worth it
    • Every Child Is Worth it launch
    • Get the government to keep their promise on ECE – Sign the Petition
    • Have a Heart pledge
    • July 2019 proposed settlement to kindergarten teachers
    • Shaping our future: A ten-year plan for ECE
    • Thanks for signing our ECE petition
    • Unions and ECE
  • Get Goodies
  • Get Help
  • Get Involved
  • Global Custom Fields
  • Home
    • Learning Support Workers Strike Dates
  • Inclusive education
    • Inclusive education: Education for All activities, September 2016
    • Inclusive education: Inclusive Communities through Education Summit, May 2017
  • Initial Teacher Education (ITE) 2040
  • It’s time—Kua tae te wā
    • August 2019 settlement to primary principals
    • Budget 2018
      • Thanks!
    • Campaign plan and claims—Kua tae te wā
    • Campaign resources
      • Area School paid union meetings – March 2019
      • Area School Teachers Collective Agreement – Our Claim
      • Contact your local MP
      • Frequently asked questions
      • November rolling strikes – events and rallies
      • Paid union meetings – May 2019
      • Paid union meetings map – May 2019
      • Primary Principal and Teacher Negotiation FAQs
      • Primary school paid union meetings schedule – May 2019
      • Support Staff, Boards and Strikes
      • Understanding strikes
      • Understanding strikes
    • Check your school’s strike day
    • First offer to principals and teachers
    • It’s the end of term! Send your favourite teacher a postcard
      • Thank you for sending your postcard
    • It’s Time: Community action planning
    • June 2019 proposed settlement to primary principals
    • June 2019 settlement to primary teachers
    • March 2019 offers to principals and teachers
    • Meetings and information for MoE Support Workers
    • November offer to principals and teachers
    • Petition: Supporting primary teachers and principals
    • Postcard to Grant Robertson
    • Postcard to the Secretary of Education
    • Primary principal paid union meetings August 2019
    • Primary teachers and principals Accord
    • Principals’ survey: Intentions for 2017
    • Principals’ survey: intentions for 2018
    • Principals’ wellbeing
      • Principal wellbeing report
      • Your report is on the way
    • Second offer to principals and teachers
    • Sign on to support our principals
    • Strike Action Ideas
    • Strike Day Deductions
    • The terms of settlement for Ministry of Education Support Workers
    • Update following talks with the Minister of Education
    • Voting on the new offers – electronic ballot
    • We’ll miss them when they’re gone
    • What’s next for principals
    • Workload Caseload Review
  • Join NZEI Te Riu Roa
  • Join NZEI Te Riu Roa
  • Kindergarten paid union meetings
  • Kindergarten paid union meetings map
  • Kindergarten paid union meetings schedule
  • KTCA Stories
  • Learning Support Members – Strike Ballot FAQs
  • Member Induction
  • NEN Hui 2020
  • Next steps for teachers – Contact your local MP
  • Paid Union Meetings for primary and area school teacher worksite representatives
  • Pay equity
    • Fair’s fair – Mana Taurite: Getting involved
    • One year of negotiations for support workers: send a postcard
      • Thank you for sending your postcard
    • Pay Equity Amendment Act
    • Pay equity for Kaiārahi i te Reo
    • Pay equity for school administration staff
    • Pay equity for support workers settlement
    • Pay equity now—join the movement for fair pay for ECE
    • Pay equity pledge for early childhood and schools
    • Pay Equity Work Assessment
    • Suffrage day 2019
    • Support Staff Pay Equity Quiz
    • Teacher aide paid union meetings
    • Teacher aide pay equity – information for principals, EOs and SENCOs
    • Teacher aide pay equity – invite a teacher aide to receive updates
    • Teacher aide pay equity – register for a Zoom hui
    • Teacher aide pay equity settlement
    • The pay equity pledge – Pay equity
    • The road to pay equity for teacher aides
  • Pay Equity – Pledge Map
  • Pay equity DRAFT
  • Principals Hauora Survey
  • Principals Kit
  • Principals’ and teachers’ wellbeing survey
  • Pūaotanga Report
  • Public Sector Pay Initiative
  • School Report Card
  • Special Screening: Wāwāhi Tahā – Time for Tamariki
  • Suffrage Day
  • Support our campaign
  • Support staff
    • Letter to Iona Holsted from annualised support staff
    • Making it Possible: Support Staff Day 2018
    • Support Staff – Contact your local MP
    • Support Staff – Paid union meetings
    • Support Staff – Paid union meetings October 2019
    • Support staff – share your story
    • Support staff – sign on to make a difference
    • Support Staff Day 2019 – Making a Difference
    • Support staff need fair pay! Sign the open letter to the Education Minister
    • Support staff proposed terms of settlement 2019
    • Support Staff Resources
    • Support Staff Week 2020 – Celebrating the wins
    • Support Staff Week 2021 – Building the Future
    • Support staff: 101 reasons why
    • Teacher aide PLD
    • Thank you for sharing your story
    • Thank you for signing on to make a difference
    • Thanks for signing the open letter to Minister Hipkins
    • Walking in the shoes of support staff
  • Support Staff – Paid union meetings October 2019 schedule
  • Support Workers Pay Equity Ratification Meetings
  • Te Ake Rautangi
  • Te Ao Kei Tua – Our Schools, Our Communities, Our Future
  • Teacher Time Diaries
  • Teachers Time Diaries – Thank you!
  • Teachers Time Diaries Results
  • Test – Staffing Calc Page
  • Test page
  • Test Petition Embed Page
  • Tomorrow’s Schools Submission
  • Tomorrow’s Schools Submission – Thank you
  • Vote for Me: —our campaign for Election 2017
  • Wāwāhi Tahā – Time For Tamariki
    • Wāwāhi Tahā Community Launch Sign up form
  • It’s time to update your contact details
  • Thank you for updating your contact details
  • Mana Taurite – ECE employers
  • Pay equity for ECE – Information for employers and governance boards
  • Pay equity for ECE – Work Assessment: Information for interested participants
  • The road to pay equity for ECE
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NZEI Te Riu Roa
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