- Hon Simeon Brown
- Hon Erica Stanford
- Hon Judith Collins KC
Tomorrow's proposed strike is unfair, unproductive and unnecessary and should be called off, Public Service Minister Judith Collins says.
"The strike will not help anyone. It is a stunt targeting the Government but the people paying the price are the thousands of patients who have had appointments and surgeries cancelled, and the hundreds of thousands of kids who will miss another day at school.
"For many students, the strike falls in the same week as a teacher-only day and ahead of Labour Weekend, and it comes just weeks out from crucial exams for NCEA-level students - many who have endured ongoing interruptions throughout their secondary education.
"It is only by genuine negotiation that settlements are achieved. The Government is at the table with offers but the unions are out on the streets with megaphones."
Education Minister Erica Stanford says the Government is stretching its financial mandate to make an offer that means 66 percent of trained primary teachers will be paid a base salary of at least $100,000 within 12 months of ratification - up from 40 percent currently.
"Under our latest offer to the PPTA, 76 percent of all trained secondary teachers would be paid a base salary of at least $100,000 per annum from 29 October 2025 - up from 60 percent currently. The PPTA has chosen to reject this offer."
"Teachers and principals want to be at school, they can see the positive change in the classroom with our reforms. Unions are letting them down by not bargaining in good faith and spreading misinformation about the process. Teachers, parents and students all deserve better.
"The latest offers come on top of the $53 million the Government is spending to pay teachers' registration and levies, our largest investment in a generation of $750 million into learning support, and huge investments into professional development and resources so teachers can focus on teaching the basics - yet neither the NZEI nor the PPTA have prioritised any of their claims to allow for any meaningful negotiation."
Health Minister Simeon Brown says the union representing senior doctors, who are among the most highly paid people in New Zealand, has walked away from an offer which would have improved their pay and conditions.
"At Health New Zealand, average total remuneration for senior doctors, including overtime and allowances, is $343,500. This does not include any work they do in the private sector. They also receive six weeks' annual leave, paid leave for conferences and a fully paid three-month sabbatical every six years.
"The latest offer would have provided a salary increase of at least 5 percent over two years, with the ability to provide an additional increase for first-year specialists. These increases are additional to the $5900 annual step increase senior doctors receive until they reach the top of the 15-step pay scale.
"In addition, a $40 million fund is proposed for distribution to senior doctors to support the workforce with retention and address shortages in hard-to-staff hospitals."
The average salary for both Senior and Registered Nurses is $125,662, which includes overtime, a professional development allowance, and penal rates.
Under the latest offer, nurses on the top step would have had a 2 percent increase in June 2025 - an extra $2135 per year - with another 1 percent increase in June next year.
"We have listened to the unions and made fair offers at the limits of the Government's ability to make affordable settlements," Ms Collins says.
"Dragging these negotiations out with industrial action is cruel to those people who were due to have surgery or vital consultations. It is disruptive for senior school students about to face exams. It is irritating for families with younger school children and it is costing the unions' own members, who not only lose a day's pay but also delay settlements which will not be backdated.
"Unions claim to represent the interests of their members. Those would be better served by constructive negotiation than by chanting slogans in the streets.
"The unions have chosen disruption over dialogue. We'd encourage them to do the opposite."
