In a school or kura we are the people that do essential work alongside teachers and principals.
We support ākonga in the classroom, manage school offices and administration, libraries and science labs and much more – our work is made up of many threads.
We are essential but schools are not well funded enough by Government to employ us. We can change this!
Together we are building power to win improvements to our collective agreement – with fair pay, job security and the professional learning and development we need – the essentials!
Negotiations for the Kaiārahi i te Reo and Therapists Collective Agreement and the Support Staff in Schools Collective Agreement began in October 2024.
Our claims were developed by members of each collective agreement during terms 2 and three of 2024.
Members have been involved in developing our claims over the last couple of terms.
We know the key to getting the wins we need – decent pay increases, job security and access to PLD will be persuading Government that funding a decent settlement is essentail to support schools and ākonga.
1. Double Your Power – recruit a colleague to join your union, the stronger our collective is the louder our voices for change!
2. Share your story and ask people to sign up to our open letter.
3. Talk to your principal, teacher or parent communities about your work, and the need for improvements in your terms and conditions.
When you share your story with people who may not understand what you do or how your terms and conditions need improving, you build an understanding, and this brings others onside to help pressure Government to make change.
The image of the kete is representative of knowledge, strength, structure, and support. Like support staff and kaiārahi i te reo, kete are essential—they help us organise and navigate our daily lives, carrying everything from functional items to precious taonga, ensuring they are safe and cared for.
The stitching detail around text boxes and the boxes themselves speak directly to Tui, tui, tui, tuia (sew, stitch, bind it together) and Ngā Whātui are those who do the tying together.
Ngā Whātui is about the weave – reflecting how people in these roles weave and work together to provide the support and experiences for tamariki. Each weave has a purpose – e.g the looser woven kete are used for gathering shellfish or vegetables, enabling the water to drain or the dirt to shake through; and a tighter weave holds the contents safely and securely; weave colour tells the story of purpose, or of the weaver.
Sign the open letter calling for support for better Government investment in a quality public education system, and in us as essential staff.
Here is an A5 flyer you can print off and hand out to people urging them to sign the open letter.
You can find all of the support staff collective agreements here.
Take a look at our current campaigns and find out how you can get involved.
The 2025 scholarship applications round opened in February 2024 and close on Friday 10th May 2024. To learn more about the application process, what to expect and how to write a good application, check out the article linked below.
The pay equity settlement for science technicians has been approved and implementation began in term three of 2022. We’ve waited a long time for this – NZEI Te Riu Roa members raised this pay equity claim with the Ministry in 2018. We’re proud to have reached this moment.
The pay equity settlement for librarians and library assistants has been approved and implementation began in term three of 2022. We’ve waited a long time for this – NZEI Te Riu Roa members raised this pay equity claim with the Ministry in 2018. We’re proud to have reached this moment.