Here is important information for you to read re: your status as a PPCB member and the outcomes of the negotiations. You will receive further comms with the new offer shortly.

28th March, 2023

Kia ora PPCB e te Whānau,

Today we went into negotiations with the Ministry of Education with our focus on the following claims. In brief these were:

  • Remuneration

  • 10-15% increase for U1/2 principals to build some relativity between them and DPs in larger school

  • 7.2% ( inflation) for U3 and above

  • $6,000 Wellbeing payment to align with secondary principals

  • An increase in sabbaticals to align with secondary 1:9 ratio as well as up to $5,000 in cost available – also in line with secondary

  • Travel allowance – 83 cent a km in line with IRD

  • Backdated to when the collective ended on 25 August 2022

Much of our discussion with the Ministry of Education was about the vulnerability of our U1/2 principals and trying to get extra payments in recognition for their isolation both physically isolated and feeling isolated from others.

Negotiations this time round have been challenging partly due to the fact that we are party to the Public Sector Pay Adjustment( PSPA) process. It was made clear to us that if we withdrew from this process there were no guarantees a new offer would have similar remuneration and conditions. It was also made clear to us that we would not be getting 7.2%. We were able to make some shifts although there were also trade offs.

We have agreed to bring the offer to you. The new offer from the MoE includes :

Probably most significantly

Ministerial Advisory Group on staffing

“Outside of the bargaining, as we have discussed, work is underway to establish a Ministerial Advisory Group to review staffing settings across New Zealand schools and kura. The draft Terms of Reference outlining the purpose, scope, and functions of the proposed Ministerial Advisory Group will be shared with PPCB for feedback.”

We are looking to contribute to this group directly or through NZPF.

From our claims:

  • No changes in 13 December 2022 remuneration pay scale: $4,000 immediately plus 3% increase of salary at 01/12/23. See the 13 December offer in another article for the table.

  • $6,000 annual Wellbeing payment. PPCB would be part of setting the criteria so the money went to principals and was ring fenced in the Ops grant. In other words the BOT cannot spend on the “swimming pool fence”. We felt this was significant when we cost it out, as it went to all members.

  • $750 payment this year and $500 payment next year

  • Travel allowance of 83 cents per kilometre to be part of the Collective

  • Offer backdated to 1 December 2022

The offer required us to do a cost analysis while considering the outcomes for all members.

Timeline of Agreement –

We will be coming to you shortly with the new offer. As part of the Public Sector Pay Adjustment arrangement the offer will be backdated to 1 December 2022. If it is ratified the offer of $4,000 remuneration will be available this year. It takes about 6 weeks for payroll to activate this. The 2023 $6,000 Wellbeing per annum will be also available before 1 December 2023. PPCB is part of a writing group to outline the parameters for this payment.

On 1 December 2023 the 3% will be paid and the next $6000 available. We will be back into bargaining in September 2024.

This timeline is significant when considering the full offer.

Please look out for the new offer and our survey. The turnover will be quite quick due to the reason below under status

Your status as a PPCB Member

After recent communication from NZEI to members about which collective you will belong to and dual PPCB and NZEI membership, we have sought advice from our lawyer. He in turn consulted MoE lawyers to see how they interpret the employment law for PPCB members.

Firstly, eventually there will be two collectives, one for NZEI and the other for PPCB. In our experience the content will be the same.

If you are a member of PPCB only then until the PPCB collective is ratified, you will be covered by the expired collective. Once ratified, you will move on to the PPCB collective.

If you have dual membership of both PPCB and NZEI, then there are two scenarios of which you need to be aware. These are as follows:

  • If the PPCB collective is ratified by members first, then it will be the PPCB collective that covers you. You can retain dual membership; you will come under the PPCB collective.

  • If the NZEI collective is ratified by members first, then it will be the NZEI collective that covers you. While you can retain your membership of PPCB in this scenario, it will not enable you to be covered by the PPCB collective even if you were to resign NZEI membership as the terms which covered you at the time of ratification would continue to apply through until the next negotiation.

So if you resign from NZEI before PPCB ratifies then you will be covered by PPCB’s agreement. However, if PPCB ratifies first then you don’t need to resign from NZEI (assuming you want to be covered by the PPCB agreement) – the issue is if NZEI ratifies first. If you don’t want to take this risk (which is to be caught with the NZEI collective should they ratify first, and then you have dual membership), then you would need to resign from NZEI before ratification.

I understand many of you have resigned from NZEI already, as have I. It was a wrench for me as I have been a member of NZEI since 1977. I made this decision based on two major factors:

  1. My dissatisfaction as to the service to principals by NZEI

  2. and the utter contempt NZEI has shown PPCB and its members.

Like making a stand about National Standards and being part of BTAC back in its day, I decided it was time to be brave! You need to make your own decisions.

Each of our circumstances are different so we will endeavour to get the offer to you as quickly as possible to ratify or not and decide on our next steps forward if necessary.

See the information about your health care below.

Healthcare Plus Members

Ben Gorman, Tumuaki from St Joseph’s School in Rangiora has confirmed that non-NZEI members can maintain their Healthcare Plus policies. Here is what he had to say:

This information will hopefully help possible members who are supportive of PPCB, but are reluctant to belong to two unions and don’t want to lose their current health insurance. Health Care Plus – once known as EBS – is a great service that many educators benefit from each year. EBS was initially established by a number of unions to support members’ health. EBS became Healthcare Plus and is now part of Unimed.

The PPCB is not an associated union for Healthcare Plus but non-NZEI members can maintain their Healthcare Plus policies with a slight increase to their fortnightly premium (just 10% extra on what you are currently paying – still very affordable and worthwhile). If you do end your NZEI membership do tell Healthcare Plus immediately so your premium is adjusted to the correct rate. Healthcare Plus contact details: 0800 268 3763 or sales@healthcareplus.org.nz

Nga mihi,

Denise Torrey

Head of Union