Aides bitter about lot

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 14

Aides bitter about lot

PA Wellington! No sick pay, no pay for statutory holidays, no allowances for necessary protective clothing, and minimal rates of pay — these are the complaints’ of a group of workers who have held their first conference. The disgruntled workers are educational ancillary staff, including teacher aides in primary schools, library i assistants in secondary schools and teachers’ col-1 leges, laboratory assistants and nurse aides in secondary schools, and helpers in special schools. 1 They have had no in- i dustrial recognition, and thus | no way of seeking better pay 1 and conditions. Earlier this year they; 1 formed the Education Service ; Paraprofessional Associa- 1 tion, and at the conference * during the week-end they ' decided to seek recognition — as a first step towards im- . proving their lot. Forty of the association’s 600 members attended the j conference. “We are all very happy in ; our jobs, and we don’t want' to be militant, but there are < things we should have by right,” said Mrs Beverley I

i Turner, who was elected! president of the association.! Mrs Turner has been a! teacher aide in Henderson! for about nine years. “We have no sick leave entitlement; every worker in New Zealand today gets sick leave.” she said. “It is a responsible job. It means dealing with children, and that in itself is very responsible.” Bein fc a teacher aide involved a lot of library work;! i in some schools the aides run the school library, said Mrs, Turner. “It involves making equip- , rnent for teachers, duplicating, mixing paint, covering books, making charts, look- ( ing after the sick bay, and some help with reading in 'the classroom. ' “Some take first aid cer-l’ tificates, but they get no ( extra pay for it. A lot take on such a course because thev are conscientious in their job — if a child has a broken arm or concussion it is vital to know what to do.” ' The workers, mostly married women, now get $2.54 an hour, working up to 25 hours a week, and only on school days. They get no pay for statu- , tory holidays, or other school i

i holidays, although a hohdav |pay allowance is included in their hourly rate. I The conference decided to iseek a pay rate which would give the “full-time” assistants — those who work 25 hours a week — the same annual income as a worker on the minimum adult wage, with three weeks paid holiday a year. This would nearly double I their hourly rate. The conference called for a minimum period of notice lof two weeks, and for protective clothing for laboratory assistants and others who needed it. The association will affiliate with the Educational Institute. Two Christchurch women, Mesdames Judith Lawrv and i Stephanie Dumble, have been elected to the association's executive. Vance home President Carter has welcomed the Secretary of State (Mr Cyrus Vance) home from a mission to China by saying that discussions there were "highly successful” and the trip was “a major step forward to our ultimate goal of normalising relations with China.” — Washington.