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# Face of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/face-of-the-day-1318/
- Published: 2025-10-19T17:30:36.000Z
- Updated: 2025-10-19T17:30:35.000Z
- Description: Public sector wages grew 2.8 percent in the year to June 2025, while private sector wage growth was 2.3 percent. “This industrial action is unfair and unwarranted.”
- Author: Good Oil Staff
- Tags: Face of the Day

Judith Collins’ open letter to New Zealanders:

> To the patients, students and families affected by this week’s planned strike,  
>  
> The government regrets the impact on you, your children and your families that is expected on Thursday because of a strike planned by a number of unions.  
>  
> We regret even more that the strike appears to be politically motivated by the unions.  
>  
> What else could possibly explain that in early October, when we were trying to negotiate with the secondary teachers’ union, the number one item on their agenda for a meeting with Education Minister Erica Stanford was Palestine.  
>  
> Palestine. Not terms and conditions. Not student achievement. Not the new curriculum. Palestine. That’s not what students or parents should expect.  
>  
> So, to all the parents of senior students – most who have already endured ongoing interruptions throughout their schooling and who are now missing two crucial days of classes less than two weeks out from NCEA exams – I urge you to ask your children’s teachers to question their union’s priorities. \[...\]  
>  
> The Government has acted in good faith, and we have met unions’ demands for pay increases in line with inflation. Our request that teacher-only days and professional development be undertaken in school holidays to reduce disruption to students and families was refused. \[...\]  
>  
> \*\*The latest offer to primary teachers means 66 per cent will be paid a base salary of at least $100,000 within 12 months of ratification – up from 40 per cent currently.   
>  
> \*\*The latest offer to secondary teachers means 76 per cent will be paid a base salary of at least $100,000 from 29 October 2025 – up from 60 per cent currently.  
>  
> \*\*The latest offers come on top of the $53 million the government is spending to pay teachers’ registration and levies, of up to $550 per teacher.  
>  
> \*\*Teachers will continue to enjoy very generous annual leave provisions.  
>  
> Chris Lynch Media

[Read More](https://www.chrislynchmedia.com/news-items/judith-collins-open-letter-to-new-zealanders/?ref=goodoil.news)