Canterbury teachers ‘getting angry’

Press, 29 May 1978, Page 1

Canterbury teachers ‘getting angry’

Teachers are not '•''soft soap,” and will not give up their wage-claim struggle, according to the chairman of the Canterbury region of the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association (Mr W. M. Cook).

Mr Cook alleged yesterday that the Government had told the Education Services Committee — which negotiates for the Education Department over wages and conditions — that teachers were “soft soap,” and that if the committee kept dragging events, the teachers would give up sooner or later. “Unfortunately, teachers are not going to give up,” said Mr Cook.

“I say ‘unfortunately.’ because already education has been affected; the education the pupils are getting is being affected by the wrangling,” he said. The committee was legally bound to negotiate, but it had not done so. Talking did not amount to negotiating, he said. It had been said that the teachers were not prepared to take their case to the Education Services Tribunal because its decision would be binding, but this was not the reason, said Mr Cook. Nor was it true that the teachers’ case could be argued before the tribunal. It could be only presented. This had the disadvantage that the E.S.C. knew all the arguments of the P.P.T.A., but because the E.S.C. had refused to negotiate, the P.P.T.A. did not know why their claims had been rejected.

Teachers were angry about the way the Minister of Education (Mr Gandar) had replied to the associa-

tion’s claims through the news media in December instead of to the association.

They were also angry that Government pursestrings were pulled tight on teachers, yet had been released to pay freezing workers, he said. Teachers did not want to strike, but saw little alternative in the face of the unwillingness of the Education Services Committee to negotiate. Canterbury secondary school teachers face pos* sible expulsion from the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association if they fail to attend a stop-work meeting on Thursday, unless they get dispensation by tomorrow.

Conscientious or religious objection to attending the meeting would not be considered sufficient reason for a dispensation, said Mr Cook. The meeting, to be held at Cashmere High School, will include in its agenda consideration of possible direct action over the teacher’s salary claims. Up to 1009 teachers are expected to attend. Mr Cook said that teachers would be asked to sign a register as they entered the hall. The names on the register would be sent to the head office of the P.P.T.A. Under the association’s constitution, a member can be expelled if twothirds of the national

executive demand it, and the decision is endorsed by a two-thirds majority and by the next conference. Mr Cook said that the last conference of the association had decided that if members did not attend the stopwork meetings, the executive should invoke the expulsion clause. He said that the association’s code of ethics also allowed for expulsion if members acted in a way detrimental to the interests of the association. As chairman Mr Cook has power to grant or refuse dispensations. “I would accept a close family bereavement, a teacher acting in loco parentis (such as in a boarding house, where the teacher is responsible for pupils), or personal sickness if accompanied by a doctor’s certificate,” he said. There was also a case where three teachers with 70 pupils were out of Christchurch on a week’s outdoor' education programme. They would not be required to attend the meeting. The P.P.T.A. is a voluntary organisation, but has about 98 per cent membership of teachers. In Auckland, teachers had been given the option to forfeit a half-day’s pay if they did not attend the stop-work meeting, but this had not been considered in Canterbury, said Mr Cook.