January is typically a quiet month for all sorts of reasons, so here are just a couple of relevant articles, summarised with links included for your light reading.
1. Secondary teachers commence work to rule
PPTA members commenced a work to rule action when schools recommenced at the beginning of the year. The action of refusing to cover for absent colleagues will continue indefinitely at this stage. The Ministry of Education has offered secondary teachers two lump sums – one of $4,000 and one of $2,000.
2. CPI remains at 7.2%
Housing and household utilities were the largest contributors to the December 2022 CPI, driven by rising prices for construction and rental housing. Next biggest contributors were food, then transport. The increase is lower than the 7.5 percent the Reserve Bank of New Zealand was expecting, but still well outside its 1 to 3 percent mandate.
3. Fair Pay Agreements
With four Fair Pay Agreements initiated in December, and one that was withdrawn and replaced in January, the process for FPAs has definitely kicked off now. The four initiated are in hospitality, two in bus transport (one by FIRST Union and one by AWUNZ) and supermarkets. Susan Hornsby-Geluk has written a good summary that considers the current status and what will likely play out.