Kia ora member,

As you are aware the strike notices have now been served to your employer for a total withdrawal of labour between 0800 and 1600 on Thursday 3 September 2020.

In the last update we provided you with our press release which did generate good media coverage including being the lead article on Stuff last Friday/Saturday.

We used the media opportunity to stress that, with political will, mediation presents a strong opportunity to negotiate and resolve this issue without the need to take industrial action.

We are currently awaiting confirmation of a mediation date and once received will use that as another media opportunity to call out the Minister of Health Chris Hipkins for his intervention. As you know, when he was Minister of Education he provided additional funding for the recruitment and retention of ECE teachers, despite being private sector workplaces. Our situation is no different, so we’ll again urge him for that same support.

We are in the final stages of confirming a plan for activities on 3 September that will ensure we have visibility while observing all COVID related regulations.

We are also finalising an FAQ to answer questions about how the day should be managed, for example negotiating work hours and who can strike. The update with confirmation of these matters will be through as soon as possible and no later than Friday 28 August.

Finally, we are very clear that the strike action is about addressing the pay inequity not capitalising on the changed COVID-19 levels by limiting necessary testing or compromising safety issues for patients.

We remain in extraordinary times but we are a strong collective and are in this together.

Take care and keep safe.

Ngā mihi,

Chris Wilson