For those wanting to see for themselves what happened on Fair Deal Friday, seeing as how the media were apparently busy doing other stuff, there's a video featuring the march I went to in Papatoetoe, and way more photos too.
Fair Deal Friday featured a series of activities around Aotearoa New Zealand, focusing on Government MPs, and specifically asking them for a fair deal for school support staff in their bargaining round. The most recent offer they received was for a 0% pay increase, leading to widespread use of the snappy chant "Zero Percent Means Discontent".
The ball is now in the Government's court - fingers crossed it comes back to the table with a better offer for these workers, some of whom are on only $12.94 an hour yet working with some of our most vulnerable children. They are mostly women, many with families of their own to support. They don't do this work for the money, however they should be paid what they deserve, not the least that the Government can get away with.
You can find out more about the campaign, from the workers themselves, at their Ning site, www.fairdeal.org.nz.
Disclaimer: This has not been a post on behalf of my employer, NZEI Te Riu Roa, but in my own right as someone who cares about this stuff. I do not work in this area.
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