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Speaker 1: What is it about the primary Teachers' union that seemingly

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Speaker 1: everyone else in the public service can sign off a

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Speaker 1: deal but they can't. Union now wants facilitated bargaining. Trouble

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Speaker 1: for the actual teachers is the longer this goes, the

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Speaker 1: more backpay they miss out on. Currently they're not getting

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Speaker 1: seventy six dollars a week. So Brian Roach as the

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Speaker 1: Public Service Commissioner, of course, and is back with us,

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Speaker 1: a very good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning.

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Speaker 1: Is the treaty still an issue for them.

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Speaker 2: That seems to have dropped away? Are we? But you

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Speaker 2: know I've written to them a number of times reminding

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Speaker 2: them that we are here to deal with terms and conditions.

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Speaker 2: I remain really committed to that, and I'm deeply frustrated

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Speaker 2: and somewhat be boilded that they are holding out for

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Speaker 2: something that we're not going to be able to deliver

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Speaker 2: the teacher.

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Speaker 1: Do the teachers know what they're being offered at the

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Speaker 1: moment that they've seen it?

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Speaker 2: They weren't offered by their union our last offer to them,

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Speaker 2: which I find really disappointing. What would the downside be

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Speaker 2: of giving somebody the choice? The last time they were

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Speaker 2: asked was prior to Christmas. We didn't get a year's vote,

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Speaker 2: but we don't know what the percentage of that vote was.

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Speaker 1: So how do you know that anybody's told it? How

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Speaker 1: does that? See? I'm not a unionist, never have been.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how this works. So on my behalf

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Speaker 1: as a teacher, the union goes away and does whatever

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Speaker 1: they do with you, and they may or may not

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Speaker 1: come back to me and tell me what's going on.

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Speaker 1: Is that how that works?

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Speaker 2: Correct? They may or may not, and they may endorse

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Speaker 2: and they may not endorse. So it's a really great question.

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Speaker 2: You know, where is the value proposition that they're adding here?

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Speaker 2: Because we feel very strongly that teachers have been deprived

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Speaker 2: of cash in their hand every month by the last union.

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Speaker 2: All the others seem to have found a way through,

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Speaker 2: but they seem to find that very difficult.

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Speaker 1: So whose interests are they looking after that? If they

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Speaker 1: don't go back to the people who employ them, whose

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Speaker 1: interests are they looking up?

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Speaker 2: That's a very open question. I mean, they work very

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Speaker 2: hard for their union members, there's no question about that,

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Speaker 2: and provide a range of services, but on this particular issue,

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Speaker 2: I find it deeply frustrating. That our offers are not

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Speaker 2: being put directly to their.

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Speaker 1: Members, and you can't do anything about that.

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Speaker 2: Presumably I can't without breaking the sort of the law,

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Speaker 2: as I've been told, But I am actively thinking about

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Speaker 2: how we deal with people who are not in the unions.

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Speaker 1: Well, what are you going to do about that? What

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Speaker 1: can you do about that?

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Speaker 2: Well, that's a bit I'm working through. It just seems

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Speaker 2: unfair that those who are not union members are not

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Speaker 2: able to access this offer. So over the next week,

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Speaker 2: I'm working through how I reached the equipment. I think

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Speaker 2: there's about eight thousand people who are not in the union.

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Speaker 1: In your gut, if you went directly to teachers and

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Speaker 1: said here's what's on the table, did you one realize

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Speaker 1: that and be what do you reckon about it? What

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Speaker 1: do you think they would say?

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Speaker 2: I think the majority would say, we've given it a

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Speaker 2: fair shot for just as far as we can go

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Speaker 2: in this bargaining around. Let's move on.

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Speaker 1: Don't they see that? With the evidence so far, I

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Speaker 1: mean pretty much everyone's got two and a bit percent

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Speaker 1: this year, two percent next year. It's all worked out

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Speaker 1: roughly the same, hasn't it? Within a margin?

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Speaker 2: It has? And you know We have been incredibly consistent

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Speaker 2: right through this process. We've never misled them. We've remained

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Speaker 2: very strong on a messaging that other unions have seen

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Speaker 2: that this union hasn't. I'm at a losses to understand why.

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Speaker 1: All right, We'll stay in touch and come back to

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Speaker 1: you soon. Sir Brian Roach, a Public Service commissioner, were

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Speaker 1: you aware of that? If you're a teacher listening to that,

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Speaker 1: were you aware of that? Is that how the unions

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Speaker 1: play games in this country? For more from The Mic

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Speaker 1: Asking Breakfast, listen live to news talks that'd be from

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Speaker 1: six am weekdays, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio