A pile of children's shoes.

Public Sector Pay Initiative

An Historic Cross-Union Effort

In June 2022, NZEI Te Riu Roa, PPTA, PSA, NZNO, E Tū and other public sector unions agreed to ask members to discuss and vote on whether to go forward with a Council of Trade Unions (CTU) initiative to negotiate with the Government for a unifed pay increase across the wider public service.

The response was an overwhelmingly positive with a majority of NZEI Te Riu Roa members in favour of the proposal.

The Issues

The proposal put forward by the CTU on behalf of public sector unions was designed to address the rising pressure being felt across all public sector workers. It addresses:

  1. Significant inflation over the last few years which has resulted in sky-rocketing cost of living.
  2. Wages that are not keeping pace with said inflation with increases as low as 1.5% locked into current arrangements.
  3. That as a bloc of unionised workers, we are stronger together and can negotiate better outcomes for all.
Portrait of a Māori woman looking at the camera.

What is being proposed?

The CTU has proposed to Minister of Public Services, Chris Hipkins, that it would be constructive and timely to negotiate an across-the-board pay increase applying across all collective agreements in the public sector and the funded sector.

The key idea is that while union members would still negotiate the non-pay elements of our collective agreements, everyone working in the public sector could then benefit from coming together as a large block to negotiate the best possible pay increase across the board.

Two children colouring in patterns on some paper at a desk.

Why now?

The combination of increases in cost of living, increasing job demands and the pressures of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic have had impacts on everyone working across the public services, including education.

However, there is a risk that this contribution is not recognised fairly across the dozens of pay negotiations of collective agreements across the health, education, the social services, the core public sector and wider public services such as ECE and aged care.

Hands pointing at a line in a text book, next to a laptop on a desk.

What does this mean for you?

If you are a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa and covered by a collective agreement that will be affected by this proposal, you will have received an email outlining the specifics of this proposal.

We will be in regular communication with members through this process, but in the meantime you can ask us a question or check out our FAQs document below.

Not a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa?

This proposal applies to NZEI Te Riu Roa members who are covered by one of the related collective agreements. Find out about joining today to have your say and be a part of building a fairer education sector.

Related campaigns

Take a look at our current campaigns and find out how you can get involved.

Ngā Aukaha

  • Umanga mātauranga
  • Ngā Aukaha

He nui ngā tamariki o Aotearoa kāore i te whai wāhi ki te mātauranga i te mea he iti noa te tautoko ā-pūtea i te tautoko akoranga. Ko te hua o ngā take pūtea me ngā wā tatari tino roa, he nui ngā tamariki kāore i te whiwhi i te tautoko e tika ana e puāwai ai rātou. Mā te mahi ngātahi, ka taea te uruhi i te kāwanatanga ki te whakapiki i ngā pūtea tautoko kia rongo te tamaiti i te wairua tūhonohono, tautoko, ā, kia whai uara ia i te kura, i tōna whare ako kōhungahunga rānei.

Ako atu