It's a long time since we've updated on the language schools but we have been making excellent progress. Unite now has collective agreements with seven schools (Dominion, GEOS, Kaplan Aspect, EF International, Sheffield, Queens Academic, Crown Institute). Three of these schools (Dominion, GEOS and Kaplan Aspect) have bases in Auckland and Christchurch) and we are finalising agreements with Eurocentres and St George in the next two weeks.We have initiated bargaining with two more schools - Languages International and Embassy/Taylors here in Auckland.

We now have members at all the major schools and we are excited about the opportunity to work for a MECA (Multi-Employer Collective Agreement). A MECA would help take pay out of the competition between schools. At the moment schools compete with eachother on the price of teacher labour and try to keep this as low as possible to undercut the fees charged at other schools. With a MECA all schools wages and salaries would rise together so that competition to keep down wages will be reduced.