Secondary teachers won't cancel strikes until government improves offer

10:28 am on 14 August 2025

Lauren Crimp, Reporter

Morning Report

PPTA acting president Chris Abercrombie talks at a protest down Wellington's CBD to Grant Robertson's office.

PPTA president Chris Abercrombie speaks at a teachers strike in 2023. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

*This story has been updated to show teacher stepped pay progression is for the first 10 years of service.

The secondary teachers' union says it will only cancel its planned strikes if the government improves its pay offer.

But the minister responsible has made no indication it is likely to budge, urging teachers to ditch their "political stunt" and return to the bargaining table.

Teachers will walk off the job next Wednesday following a one percent pay rise offer during collective bargaining, which the union said was the lowest in a generation.

The Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) also warned of further strikes in September if the offer did not improve.

President Chris Abercrombie said the decision to strike was not taken lightly, and he did not want it to come to that.

"We're meeting with the ministry this Friday for bargaining, so we're really hopeful we might be able to alleviate all of this industrial action, if the ministry comes to the table.

"We need to see some movement on all of our claims, at the moment the government has addressed basically none of them."

But Education Minister Erica Stanford said the PPTA had not made any counter offer or clarified what it wanted, instead jumping to take "drastic" action after just six days of bargaining.

"I'm really worried about the rolling strikes in September, it is so very close to final exams and the unions know that," she said.

"And that's why it really bites that they're not at the bargaining table, bargaining in good faith. These students are being used as bargaining chips, it's not fair on those kids and it's not fair on parents."

Stanford urged the union to call off the strikes and engage with the government in good faith.

'Yearly attack'

Public Service Minister Judith Collins said says the union's actions were an "attack" on students.

The pay offer had been on top of continuing annual pay progressions of 4 percent to 7.5 percent, and extra funding in the sector around professional development and paying registration fees

"We're talking a massive increase in the past couple of years through this minister and government.

"You can't bargain if you've got no one else at the table," she told Morning Report.

"The union hasn't even taken this offer to their members - they already had their strike prepared by the look of it.

"I find this a very cynical move."

Collins said it was time to move away from what was a "yearly attack on students" who are missing out.

Teacher and PPTA member Kevin Greig said there that kind of language cannot be justified.

"Do we really want to strike? You know, times are tough and no one wants to give up a day's pay. But this action, what we're doing, we're trying to show teachers care about what's at stake here."

Greig said while the most recent bargaining was for six days, there had been months of discussions and negotiations.

What do teachers want?

Secondary school teachers were paid an average of $100,000, but that was not high enough to attract and retain staff, Abercrombie said.

"That is the pay rate, but we know we don't have subject specialist teachers in front of young people, and we're about to go through the biggest change package in curriculum and assessment in a generation.

"If we want that to work, we need to have a workforce there to deliver that."

The country was about 800 secondary school teachers short, he said.

The government offered a one percent salary increase each year for three years.

But the PPTA wants a four percent increase each year for three years, and another four percent in the first year "in recognition of the removal of pay equity", Abercrombie said.

Teachers also receive annual stepped pay progression for the first 10 years of service.