Public Sector Pay Disputes 2025

The story so far

Teachers also rejected government pay offers of 1% a year, with secondary teachers rejecting theirs in July and primary teachers rejecting theirs in August.^{24 Jul 2025; 7 Aug 2025} Secondary teachers then struck for a day, and Public Service Minister Judith Collins called the planned action a "political stunt".^{13 Aug 2025} The Prime Minister and ministers criticised the unions as politically motivated, and the Health Minister told senior doctors their action had crossed an ethical line and said he might consider a law change.^{13, 16, 17, 19, 20 Oct 2025}

Latest

The firefighters' dispute is continuing: paid firefighters kept their strike notices in place, the Employment Relations Authority referred the parties to facilitated bargaining, and Fire and Emergency took legal action against the union over alleged threats and intimidation towards volunteers.^{4, 17 Dec 2025}

Key moments

1. 30 Jul 2025More than 36,000 nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants strike for 24 hours.
2. 7 Aug 2025Primary teachers overwhelmingly reject the 1 per cent pay offer.
3. 17 Oct 2025Health Minister says he may consider a law change amid dispute with doctors.
4. 17 Oct 2025About 2000 firefighters walk off the job for one hour nationwide.
5. 23 Oct 2025Up to 100,000 public sector workers strike in coordinated mega-strike.
6. 5 Nov 2025More than 20,000 secondary teachers strike during NCEA exams.
7. 4 Dec 2025Secondary teachers accept a 4.6 per cent pay increase over two years.
8. 17 Dec 2025Fire and Emergency takes the firefighters' union to the Employment Relations Authority.

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.