Teachers walked off the job on March 16 calling for better pay and conditions. Photo / File
The country's largest education union, NZEI Te Riu Roa, says area school teachers will vote on industrial action, including rolling strikes.
NZEI says despite discussions with the ministry, they received just one pay offer in December 2022, which wasn't accepted.
Industrial action would include a relief teacher work ban, a ban on meetings outside of school hours, and rolling strikes from May 9-11.
Kaareen Hotereni, a Kawarau-based resource teacher of Maōri from Te Whata Tau o Pūtauaki, will be the negotiating representative for area school teachers.
If the teachers vote in favor of industrial action, they will join their area school and primary principal colleagues who are currently undertaking a work ban, including a pause on Ministerial work such as implementing the Curriculum Refresh, Hotereni says.
The ballot will run till May 1, with further negotiations scheduled for the end of next week.
Any agreed-upon industrial action can be called off if an offer that meets the needs of area school teachers is received.
The move to industrial action by area school teachers would align with action undertaken by PPTA secondary and area school teachers.
