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New Zealand Educational Institute

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The New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI; in Māori: Te Riu Roa) is the largest education trade union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1883 and has a membership of 50,000.[1]

NZEI
New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa
Te Riu Roa
Founded1883
HeadquartersWellington, New Zealand
Location
  • New Zealand
Members50,000
Key people
Mark Potter, President
Stephanie Mills, National Secretary
AffiliationsEducation International
Websitewww.nzei.org.nz
NZEI's National Education journal from 1988

History

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The NZEI was founded by a merger of district institutes of teachers in 1883[2] at a meeting in Christchurch. Although most of the groundwork for the organisation of regional institutes into a national body was performed by William Fitzgerald, head of the Dunedin Training College, he was unable to attend the meeting at which the NZEI was officially formed, leaving that work to his colleague David Renfrew White.[3] The first president, serving from 1883–85, was Henry Worthington, headmaster of Wellesley Street School in Auckland.[4] Fitzgerald served as president from 1885 to 1886, and was followed by George Hogben.[4]

Under the leadership of Frank Livingstone Combs and others, it became the nationwide voice of primary school teachers.[5] The first woman to be president was Margaret Magill, who was elected in 1933. The second was Vera Hayward in 1952.[6] Since the 1994 merger with the Combined Early Childhood Union of Aotearoa (CECUA) the NZEI has also represented teachers in early childhood centres. Since the major New Zealand employment law changes in the 1980s and 1990s,[7] the NZEI negotiates the more than twenty collective agreements across the two sectors, including principals, teachers, support staff, te reo Maori immersion staff and Ministerial staff.[8]

In late July 2025, the NZEI sought a judicial review at the Wellington High Court of the New Zealand Government's decision to reduce funding for literacy and Māori resource teachers during the 2025 New Zealand budget, which was released in May 2025.[9]

Early childhood education

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Due to the relatively fragmented history and nature of early childhood education in New Zealand, the largest number of collective agreements negotiated by the NZEI are in this sector.[8]

Primary schools

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Primary staff and principals are on separate collective agreements, with separate agreements for area (rural) staff and principals, but these are negotiated together.[8]

Strikes

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of parliament 15 August 2018

The NZEI has struck four times since it was founded in 1883.[10]

Placards at NZEI Te Riu Roa strike rally on the steps of parliament 15 August 2018. The placards read "We're not going to take it ANYMORE", "It's time to value teachers" and "iTeach, there's no app for that".

In 1991 members struck (unsuccessfully) as part of wider industrial and union action against the Employment Contracts Act 1991,[10] which led to significant changes in New Zealand employment relations.[11]

Members struck in 1994 and 1995 to successfully achieve pay parity with the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA), their colleagues in secondary schooling.[10] This related pay scales to the teachers' qualifications.[12]

Members struck in 2018 as part of the negotiation round with the Sixth Labour Government of New Zealand. Rallies and marches were held in the major cities.[10] On 29 May 2019, the NZEI and the PPTA staged a "mega-strike" demanding higher salaries, rejecting the Government's three-percent pay rise offer.[13][14][15]

On 26 June 2019, primary school teachers voted to accept the Government's NZ$1.5 billion collective agreement. Key provisions of the collective agreement included a new pay scale, raising all teachers' base salaries by 18.5% by July 2021, and made Q3+, Q4, and Q5 teachers eligible for a new top salary of NZ$90,000. However, primary principals rejected the offer, regarding the government's offer as insufficient.[16][17][18]

On 26 July 2019, the New Zealand Educational Institute's early childhood teacher members voted to accept a collective agreement with the Ministry of Education that put early childhood teachers' pay on par with primary and secondary school teachers. As part of the terms, early childhood teachers received a pay rise of at least 18.5% by July 2020, NZEI members received a lump sum of NZ$1,500, head and senior teacher allowances increased, and a new top step of NZ$90,000 was introduced. While the NZEI negotiates on behalf of all early childhood teachers in New Zealand, only 12.5% of the early childhood workforce were union members in 2019.[19][20]

References

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  1. ↑ "About Us". New Zealand Educational Institute. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Teachers' Organisations — Primary". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. 1966. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Fitzgerald, William Sanderson | Dictionary of New Zealand Biography | Te Ara". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  4. 1 2 E. J. Simmonds (1983). NZEI 100: an account of the New Zealand Educational Institute. Wellington: New Zealand Educational Institute. ISBN 0-908579-19-5. Wikidata Q140255055.
  5. ↑ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Combs, Frank Livingstone". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  6. ↑ "NZ Education Institute: Miss Vera Hayward to be President". The Press. 15 May 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  7. ↑ Olssen, Erik (11 March 2010). "Unions and employee organisations – Unions after 1960". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 "Primary Schools Collective Agreements". New Zealand Educational Institute. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  9. ↑ Gabel, Julia (24 July 2025). "NZ's largest teachers' union taking Government to court over resource teacher cuts". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 25 July 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Teachers' strike today: School's out – All you need to know". The New Zealand Herald. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  11. ↑ Derby, Mark (1 March 2016). "Strikes and labour disputes – Legislation from the 1990s". Te Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  12. ↑ De Boni, Dita (22 August 2002). "Teachers' pay parity preserved, but writing on wall". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  13. ↑ "Live: Teachers on 'mega strike'". Radio New Zealand. Scoop. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  14. ↑ Roy, Eleanor Ainge (28 May 2019). "New Zealand schools hit by 'mega-strike' as 50,000 teachers walk out". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  15. ↑ "Teachers' mega-strike: What to do with your kids today". The New Zealand Herald. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  16. ↑ Williams, Katarina; Iles, Julie (26 June 2019). "Primary teachers say yes, principals say no to latest collective agreement offers". Stuff. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  17. ↑ Collins, Simon (26 June 2019). "Teachers accept pay deal – but principals reject it". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  18. ↑ "Proposed settlement for primary teachers". New Zealand Educational Institute. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  19. ↑ Franks, Josephine (26 July 2019). "Kindergarten teachers vote to accept collective agreement, giving them pay parity". Stuff. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  20. ↑ "Kindergarten teachers accept new collective agreement". New Zealand Educational Institute. Scoop. 26 July 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019.

Further reading

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