Stop or resign, teachers told

Press, 27 May 1978, Page 6

Stop or resign, teachers told

PA

Auckland

Auckland secondary school teachers have been instructed to attend a stop-work meeting in Auckland next week, or resign from their union, or forfeit half a day’s pay to a strike fund.

The Auckland region of the Post Primary Teachers’ Association will hold a stop-work meeting on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Up to 1000 teachers from the Canterbury region are expected to attend a stopwork meeting at Cashmere High School next Thursday morning. In many Auckland schools teachers who are members of the P.P.T.A. have been told that they must attend the stop-work meeting or hey will have to resign from the P.P.T.A. or contribute the half day’s pay they would have lost bv attending the stop-work to a strike fund. The president of the Auckland region of the P.P.T.A. (Miss H. M. Ryburn) said Yesterday that the P.P.T.A. national salaries conference held on May 8 and 9 had directed that all P.P.T.A. members must attend he stop-work meetings held bv their regions. “If thev do not attend they have infringed our code of ethics.” she said. “The mood of the conference was chat this was a serious enough situation that members should eithe, stand up and be counted or else contemplate having to leave the association.” Any action against teachers who staved away from the stop-work meeting would be initiated at branch level, she said. But if a teacher was asked to resign his P.P.T.A. membership or

» forfeit half a day’s pay for! the P.P.T.A. strike fund and he refused the matter would; c be referred to the national I t executive. The executive would then) i be called on to make a deci-, »| sion in terms of its code, she . said. ». Miss Ryburn said, “If) members say they are not; going to support the P.P.T.A/ s that is their choice and they ! f are probably no loss to our j association.” = The Wellington Secondary , Schools Counc'i supports a) 5 resumption of salary talks; » between the Government and' j secondary school teachers. P The council, the controlling authority for seven State secondary schools, earlier this week recommended that /the schools stay open during a stop-work meeting on Thursdav afternoon called by a the Wellington region of the! P.P.T.A. , The council’s secretary, Mr i _. A. J. V. Edwards, said yester-’ day that this did not mean' . that the council had a parti-j f san attitude on the dispute.; j It had a legal responsibility t to ensure that its schools re-; i mained open, he said. 5 The Minister of Education i „ (Mr Gandar) yesterday de- ’ fended the Director-General; ~ of Education (Mr W. L. Ren-1 wick) against a call from} t Wellington secondary school! c teachers that he should re-, ’(sign. j This was one of five reso- ! lutions adopted at the teach-1 r ers’ stop-work meeting in'

Wellington on Thursday. It said that Mr Renwick had failed to keep the Minisi ter fully informed on the P.P.T.A.’s salary case, and • had shown a general lack of ) concern with the problems of (the secondary service. Mr Gandar, in Invercargill )to open the new Southland ; Community • College, said 1 that teachers had been (“grossly unfair” to Mr Renwick in their criticism. ) “Mr Renwick’s conduct has I been exemplary and I can only assume that the teach- ) ers’ statements were made lout, of ignorance,” he said. The teachers alleged that Mr Renwick had taken several days to pass on information which they had asked be given to Mr Gandar immediately after the special conference earlier this month. ; “Mr Renwick was told by I the P.P.T.A. of the results of this conference but be- ; lieved this to be in confidence,” Mr Gandar said. I Mr Gandar said that I throughout the dispute he had I encouraged the teachers to I follow the procedures laid (down by law for conciliation ‘ and arbitration for State services employees. “This would have allowed them to argue their case ) before an independent body, (the tribunal, whose decision ■ would be binding on the parIties to the dispute. “If the teachers are convinced of the justice of their ;case, then rather than take industrial action they should take their case to the Tribunal.” Mr Gandar said