Chris Abercrombie: PPTA President discusses upcoming teacher strikes following rejected pay rise

The Public Service Commissioner says teachers are putting themselves ahead of students as they again vote to strike. 

Brian Roche says the pay offer to teachers -which includes a 4.7 percent pay rise over 12 months - was a very good one. 

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie told Heather du-Plessis Allan that teachers have many sticking points with the latest offer. 

But he won't say exactly how many teachers supported the strike. 

He says that's the union's policy - but there was overwhelming support from members to take industrial action. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So yet another round of disruptive strikes has been announced,
this time from the secondary school teachers. They're going to
hold rolling strikes from Monday to Thursday after rejecting the
Education Ministry's new pay offer. Chris Abercrombie is the president
of the PPTA.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey, Chris, good, how are you.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
I'm very well, thank you. So what was the proportion
of support for the decision to go ahead and strike?

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Overwhelming support from our teachers to do this industrial action,
to reject the offer and.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Engage in industrial election.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
What is overwhelming?

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Oh, we don't release our figures. It's just one of
our policies, but it was. It was overwhelming support for
the rejection of the offer and for the industrial election.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Okay, why are you refusing to agree to the callback days?
Why is that a sticking point?

Speaker 2 (00:42):
What was this one of many sticking points?

Speaker 3 (00:44):
There's issues around partial care, around support for curriculum leads,
et cetera.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
So it's just one of many areas that still need
some work.

Speaker 1 (00:53):
Okay, but what's the problem with the callback days.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, there's two aspects to it.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
One is the increase, so it's a callback on our terms,
and the other is that they're taking away the re
embarrassment of expenses related to that.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, So if the expenses came back, would it be okay,
would you agree to the callback days?

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Well, it'd be up to our members to decide that.

Speaker 3 (01:13):
But that is a key part of it is something
that the teachers.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
I've visited schools literally today.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
As one of the key things teachers that told me
about is they're concerned around the callback days, the removal
of reimburrassements, but also the lack of government to recognize
partial care allowances, curriculum leads, et cetera.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Okay, because it was am I getting this right? It
was ten to eighteen days. Currently ten callback days would
be moved to eighteen.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yes, that's the parentove from the government.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
And these are Chris days that teachers are already paid
to work. The only request is that they are paid
to work in the office, not at home those days.
Is that correct?

Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's anytime the school's closed for instruction, so anytime after
four thirty or weekends or.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Holidays, yes, but they are as in those are days
that the teachers are already paid, and they would be
simply required to be at school on days at that
paid well.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Not necessarily the case.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
Some sometimes yes, but like not paid for Saturdays, not
paid for evenings.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
Do they ever happen on a Saturday.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
Or they might do That's that's the thing they could
do that.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
So it's and it does say again in evenings as well,
So it's not just as clear cut as as you
want it to be.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Thank you, Chris. Chris ever CHROMVPVTA president.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
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