Teachers unhappy about delay over back pay

Press, 27 February 1980, Page 3

Teachers unhappy about delay over back pay

PA Wellington Post-primary teachers will receive back pay and salaryincreases totalling almost S2B million on April 30 — but they are unhappy about the delay in implementing the pay-out, after a Government Service Tribunal decision on February 14. “A delay of. 2| months from the date of the decision until the date of the payout cannot be regarded as acceptable.” said the president of the Post-Prim-ary Teachers’ Association (Mr D. Baird). Salary increases of . up to 7 per cent were awarded the teachers by the Government Service Tribunal on February 14.

The payment will include iast year’s 10.4 per cent annual general adjustment, granted to all State servants. The 4.5 per cent general wage order was paid last year according to the Education Department.

The Department’s director of personnel (Mr J. Young).:

said that April 30 was the 'earliest possible date, giyenj jthe complexity of the increases involved. It had been agreed to by the Education Boards’ Association and the Secondary Schools’ Boards Association after discussion with the salary servicing units, he said.

"We appreciate the teachers’s concern that they should have this back pay as soon as . possible, and all permanent, full-time teachers will receive their new salaries and payment of arrears together with their normal pay on April 30,” he said. Mr Young said salary servicing units must process back pay for other than fulltime permanent staff manually. but it was hoped this would also be done bv April 30.

"Secondary teachers will be very angry about Mr Young’s announcement.” said Mr Baird. “They will see it as just another frustration in a continuing series of frustrations,” he said.

i He said the saga began in July of last year when secondary teachers decided to decline the offer of the Government and to refer their claim to arbitration. Because of the weight of commitment and work load on the chairman of the Government Service Tribunal, a hearing was not obtained until mid-December. 1979. with a decision resulting in mid-February 1980. “Secondary teachers are already questioning the capacity’ of the State pay-fix-ing system to cope speedily and effectively with disagreements of this kind, and they must now question the capacity of the pay system itself,” said Mr Baird. In his view, the Government and the Department of Education had a clear responsibility to give immediate effect to a judicial decision.

“If they cannot, their responsibility is to put in place a payroll system that can.” he said.