Primary school principals that are members of NZEI Te Riu Roa will still strike next week.
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

A union for primary principals has been able to secure a pay rise, because – according to them – it has not threatened strike action.

The Primary Principals Collective Bargaining Union has accepted a 2.5 percent pay rise this year, followed by a 2.1 percent rise next year, after four months of negotiation with the Ministry of Education.

Offered by Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche last week, the deal was set for the next 26 months.

Of their 515 members, 85 percent voted on the proposal, 95 percent of them voting in favour.

President Mark Ellis said the union never reached a point where it felt a strike was necessary.

“Our membership has gone and accepted it as a good offer,” he said. “We can appreciate that, right now, we’re in a crisis for living costs and living wages, and things like that.

“In particular, our principals want to do their jobs, be in front of kids, be supporting teachers.

“I think the good-faith negotiations continued because we had not threatened strike action.

“I believe firmly that we were at the table in constructive conversation, we had clarity of communication and, in particular, we had prioritised our priorities very carefully.”

For Ellis, a key part of the deal was a promise to explore options for tenure-based pay, where principals were compensated for their experience and years on the job.

“There’s an opportunity to continue some dialogue with the ministry around remuneration for principals and how that’s done… under areas of experience for principals, not just the size of the school.”

However, primary principals were will still strike on 23 October, if they were members of NZEI Te Riu Roa.

NZ Educational Institute said more than 40,000 education workers, including primary school principals and teachers, would join the strike nationwide.

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