New Zealand School Trustees Association
Memorandum to Boards : 2010/3
School :
Chair :
Principal :
(where no email is indicated for chair memo sent via principal, please advise changes)
From : Colin Davies, NZSTA, Manager Service Delivery (cdavies@nzsta.org.nz)
Date : 16 February 2010
Subject: Renegotiation of the Teachers’ and Principals’ Collective Agreements
Purpose: This memo outlines to boards the process for negotiations that will occur over the
next few months for terms and conditions of employment of principals and teachers. It also
outlines how boards provide input into those negotiations
Introduction: The “big 6” collective agreements affecting teachers and principals in primary,
area and secondary expire this year on 30 June 2010.
Who is the Employer?: Boards are the day to day employer of staff. Whilst most teachers
are paid from central funds a number are also employed from board funds. But when
negotiations for the collective agreements occur the Secretary for Education assumes the
role of employer and negotiates on behalf of government and boards.
New Boards: It is appreciated that following the trustee elections a number of boards will
change this year so we are seeking input from existing boards at this time. We also know
that a number of boards chairs have taken up their new role during the past few weeks. We
have prepared this background material and information to assist in understanding the
process for NZSTA to represent your views.
Background : During the term of the present collective agreements some work has occurred
as part of a longer term work programme (LTWP) in primary and some issues have been
dealt with in the secondary and area parts of the sector. Some of the aspects of that will flow
into the bargaining process and that will be the content of a separate memo to outline what
this has involved and progress to date for your particular sector.
What are the Union Claim s?: The unions, representing principals and teachers, will
prepare a number of claims. They will formally lodge these claims with the Secretary for
Education prior to the expiry of the collective agreement.
Who Represents the Boards?: The Secretary must conduct these negotiations in
consultation with NZSTA (as per the State Sector Act) as the organisation representing the
employers (boards). NZSTA provides the Secretary with feedback on the unions claims, and
also what issues the boards wish to see addressed as part of the negotiations, prior to the
government establishing its bargaining position. The NZSTA also attends the negotiations to
provide input as necessary.
Operating in “Good Faith”: The Employment Relations Act 2000 requires that during
bargaining the parties must act in good faith, part of which requires that neither party will
seek to undermine their authorised representatives during the bargaining by communicating
directly on matters arising in the negotiations. NZSTA, as a party present at the negotiations,
also operates under those ground rules.
Therefore how we gain feedback and communicate matters requires some care as well if we
are to avoid breaching the good faith requirements. For that reason we will mark these
communications as “confidential”.
Potential for Conflict of Interest : Boards of trustees are in a somewhat unique situation,
whilst being the “employer” they also contain trustees who are employees (principal and
teachers) of their school or another school. So it is necessary to avoid the potential for
conflict of interest where the employee is also the “employer” and has a “pecuniary” interest
in any decision of the board (as per Schedule 6 [s8 and s9] of the Education Act 1989). For
that reason we operate through the board chair and principal in these situations (other than
where we are dealing with matters affecting the principal’s employment conditions where
contact is only via the chair).
This does not preclude discussing these matters within the board in general but in this
instance does preclude an employee who is also a trustee from participating in any decisions
relating to their terms and conditions.
Board Issues: As part of the preparation for the bargaining the Ministry prepares a report to
government to establish bargaining parameters. In addition to feedback on the unions claims
we will also seek any particular matters which boards consider requires attention during the
process (i.e. board claims). For instance there maybe parts of the current collective
agreements which have proven to be a problem in terms of interpretation/application or there
may be matters which you think need consideration.
This is your opportunity to raise such issues. You may want to discuss this with previous
board representatives to see if anything arose with the previous board. Obviously in relation
to teachers the principal will have the operational and professional knowledge and in fact
provide a significant amount of any feedback on the boards’ behalf.
This memo is to start the process and we will shortly send each board a brief survey for each
group to seek preliminary feedback from you on issues.
We also utilise the experience gained by our NZSTA advisers on issues that have arisen for
them during the term of the collectives.
There will also be a number of “technical claims” which will be raised prior and during the
negotiations where minor matters of clarification or ease of interpretation will be dealt
with. Again if it is of significance then we will advise you at the time.
There are some matters which are specific to particularly types of schools or locations and
we will deal with those matters directly with the schools involved at the time.
Colin Davies