The secondary teachers' union says it's seeking arbitration proceedings to end a long-running pay dispute with the Ministry of Education.
"We believe arbitration is the best step towards resolution of this dispute," Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) president Chris Abercrombie said in a statement, noting the union would only enter proceedings "as long as the Government publicly commits to the outcome".
Considerations about arbitration surfaced at the weekend after the union turned down the Ministry of Education's latest pay offer in late May.
The union has since continued rolling industrial action.
But Abercrombie said on Tuesday the "sooner teachers can return to a settled environment and concentrate on teaching and learning, the better for everyone".
"However, we do not see much point in going down this path unless there is a commitment from both parties to the arbitrator's decision.
"To this end, [the] PPTA executive has agreed to recommend the outcome of arbitration to our members.
"We have asked the Government for a public commitment to the arbitration outcome and we are ready to meet with the Ministry of Education as soon as possible - hopefully today - to develop a ToR (terms of reference) agreement."
Last week, Education Minister Jan Tinetti said she believed the latest offer to secondary teachers was a fair one.
