Key's Pay-Cut Challenge

How ridiculous of Key to suggest that teachers ought to take a pay cut in order that Support Staff receive an increase. This may come as a surprise to Mr. Key but N.Z. teachers are amongst some of the lowest paid in the western world. Teachers clearly value the incredible contribution that Support Staff make towards the education of our children in Aotearoa; the evidence of which is shown not only in the support we have received to date from teachers across all sectors of education in our Support Staff "Fair Deal" Campaign but also in the fact that as part of the "Teachers Matter" Campaign, Classroom Teachers have specifically identified an increase in Learning Assistants in their classrooms as a priority, in terms of addressing their issue of ever increasing workloads. Yes, "Divide and Conquer " is the obvious expression that comes to bear on this outrageous suggestion from Key.

And pleeease, "staff were in a difficult position in their negotiations because of the fiscally restrained environment". What a cop-out, when 36 million can be poured into private schools which represent about 3.5 % of children in education. It is a simple fact that this government can choose to put money wherever it deems fit and that although there is a tremendous amount of 'lip-service" to the ethos of investing in "Quality Public Education" the truth is that Key and his government have an agenda which undermines the very core of what NZEI stands for: "Providing Quality Public Education" to the children of New Zealand. Since Key's reign, we have seen the assiduous chiselling of Government's Educational Funds and Budgets which inevitably has started to and will continue to impact upon teachers and Support staff, in both our wage negotiations, and job security.

How easy it is to use the recession (yet again) as an excuse to not only impose an effective State Sector wage freeze (or should I say wage decrease with inflation at 1.9% ),to perpetuate the myth that teachers are a self-interested group who need to "tighten their belts" like the rest of the country.How easy it is to yet again find an excuse to avoid addressing what are long-standing issues of unacceptably low rates of pay for Support Staff.

Last time I looked, any country with a quality public education system invested money in recruiting and retaining quality teachers and Support Staff. Yes, it is true that their is a huge vocational component on the part of teachers and Support Staff workers in the jobs that they do in education, which although both admirable and desirable for positive learning outcomes, in many ways creates an unlevel playing field upon which to negotiate "fair pay and working conditions". Needless to say, the insidious pay equity issues permeate support staff workers unfair and unjustifiably low rates of pay.

I suggest that the writer of this underwhelming text goes back to school and improves her research skills: indepth reporting this is not. And as for her inept reporting on our pay: Well, I think most Support Staff (who incidentally in the main earn less than 20,000 per year) many of whom earn well under this threshold, would be delighted if our real incomes were reflected in the figures that were provided in this inaccurate, lightweight piece of "journalism".It is not only the omission of context to the figures that are provided in the piece that exasperates me, but the misleading conclusions that readers may draw, by being 'painted a picture' that does not reflect the very real struggle that many Support Staff face daily in trying to 'make ends meet' in these difficult economic times.I find this aspect of this 'article' particularly pernicious in terms of our campaign to create an awareness of Support Staff issues in our communities.

We are predominantly wage workers,who in the main are employed on a part-time basis,both in terms of the hours per week we work and the weeks per year. Most of us, are not paid during school term breaks and often have to supplement our income with additional types of employment both in the times when schools are closed and even when they are open because of the low rates of pay.( the starting rate of 12.94 is not unusual, particularly with the demands on schools to juggle the inadequate funding they receive in their Operations Grants) And yes,if you clean the school toilet after school to supplement your modest income, you'll get paid a starting rate of $14.62 per hour. (the previous Government provided a well-deserved 'pay jolt' to School Cleaners) So, could someone please explain to me again Tolley's unwavering rhetoric that Support Staff are being treated fairly by a 0% pay offer.

It truly is the 'love of what we do' that often keeps us in positions that require high levels of skills,demands and responsibilities, yet could not be considered a wage that one could live on independently. We work with and advocate for some of the most vulnerable children in our communities and are predominantly women, yet are not valued in any way by this government for the contribution we make to education. The equally valuable contribution of men as Support Staff Workers in education, is also undermined in terms of their pay, which similarly is 'dragged down' by the subliminal undercurrent that keeps women -dominated, "nurturing" professions providing essential public services, rather than 'tangible' G.D.P,.at the bottom end of this government's remunerative basket.

Oh, and for that smaller segment of Support Staff who are salaried/ full-time workers, or whom are on more reasonable rates of pay,they deserve every penny they get and would no doubt receive better pay for the jobs that they do, were they employed in the private sector. Just go and observe the administration staff in any school in the country on any day of the week. They run around like head-less chickens most of the time because of the demands placed on them and do sterling work for students and their schools that keep running along smoothly because of their efforts.

Take a good look at any School Librarian, Sports Co-ordinator,Learning Assistant,Science Technician, I.T. Technician, School Nurse, Special Education Assistant, Administrator or Therapist. There are over 22,000 of us nationwide. None of us will ever appear on N.Z.s rich list, but we are 'pure gold' in terms of our contribution to the education of our children in New Zealand.