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UoA academics turn down money for the bag

Academic members of the union at the University of Auckland will be meeting next week to consider industrial action after the university failed to respond to their concerns over their employment negotiations last week.

After little progress was made in negotiations last year, the two sides resumed bargaining this year with mediation assistance from the Department of Labour.

The employer is seeking to remove several important terms and conditions from the collective employment agreement, placing them instead into university policy documents. If that happens the policies will be decided by university managers rather than as part of a negotiation between staff and management. These conditions include areas such as academic grades – standards and criteria, research and study leave, disciplinary procedures and outside activities. These are key conditions which enable academic staff to do their work effectively. They have formed part of the academic collective employment agreement for many years after being agreed to between staff and the employer in successive sets of negotiations

Currently the university has offered a 4 percent pay rise in return for the removal of the conditions from the collective agreement. In response union members have said that they would prefer to retain the conditions in return for a lesser pay rise or even no pay rise.

The union's negotiating team was disappointed last week at the lack of progress made in mediation and now says industrial action is likely to be necessary to keep current terms and conditions.

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs said too many tertiary education employers were attempting to take away working conditions that made people's working lives productive and desirable.

"I'm astonished that Auckland University isn't listening when their own staff are saying they will turn down money so that they can do their job the best way they can, and give their students the best education they can."

Member meetings will be held at the University of Auckland in the week beginning 8 February so that the negotiating team can provide a full report back to members.

Meanwhile, general staff at the University of Auckland have voted to ratify their new proposed collective agreement, which offers them a 2 percent pay rise.

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. ITP MECA bosses don't want let go


2. 100s needed to replace retiring academics


3. Debt grows as student jobs dry up


4. Other news

ITP MECA bosses don't want to let go

TEU members at the six polytechnics involved in the long-running ITP MECA dispute are balloting once more to be allowed to negotiate separate site-based agreements.

In December last year TEU members held a series of meetings at which they voted in favour of replacing their multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) with separate, site-based agreements at each of their polytechnics.

At the same time as the final meeting was finishing at Whitireia Community Polytechnic the union received an email from the chief executives of the six polytechnics initiating for another MECA.

TEU national industrial officer Irena Brorens said she regarded this action by the chief executives as a gross breach of trust and good faith.

"This is especially galling given the employers’ statements at the last meeting that they had found the partnership process constructive and useful and wanted to continue it at site level next year."

TEU has challenged the employer notice for a MECA and has initiated for site agreements at each branch. However, because the employers have initiated for another MECA, TEU must hold a ballot of all members, asking them to vote on whether they wish to be party to this new MECA bargaining (despite having already voted against this in December last year).

TEU members are currently in the process of voting.

Ms Brorens says the previous MECA no longer exists because it expired on the 30 November last year, and all TEU members are now on individual agreements identical to the expired MECA. This is similar to what occurred in March 2010.

"New staff however (this includes any TEU members who are employed on a new fixed-term or hourly-paid agreement) can be offered conditions that are different to and inferior to those on the expired MECA. The important point is no TEU member needs to sign something they are not comfortable with. Talk to us first," said Ms Brorens.

100s needed to replace retiring academics

A report by Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL) for the Universities NZ Human Resources Steering Committee shows that universities are facing a shortage of academic staff over the next ten years due to an ageing academic workforce and other factors. BERL estimates that universities will need an additional 560 to 920 academic staff each year until 2020. This range is higher than the 500 new academic staff currently recruited per year.

Universities NZ chairperson Derek McCormack told TVNZ that maintaining the international standards and reputation of New Zealand's universities was essential.

"New Zealand universities are facing a future with high student demand, capped government funding, a significantly older than average workforce and increasingly intense global competition for academics," he said.

"What's more, lower funding means that New Zealand universities are unable to offer the level of salaries that competitor countries, especially Australia, can offer, putting us at a disadvantage."

TEU president, Dr Sandra Grey, said the report fleshes out what staff already know - that universities are facing a serious crisis with regard to the recruitment and retention of academic staff.

"The report sees the crunch time as being 2020 - that's only nine years away. If we are to avoid major problems in filling teaching and research positions in universities, and ensuring New Zealand maintains its world-class university system, then the government and the sector needs to act now."

"This means increased public investment in universities, followed by a commitment from university employers to supporting good employment conditions that result in high quality permanent jobs.

"The sector also needs to consider issues such as flexible working arrangements which will better suit the requirements of the next generation of academics, and improved support for research to match conditions in the global labour market."

"We are a small player in a very large global society and academics will vote with their feet and depart offshore or to other sectors if conditions in universities don't improve." Dr Grey said.

Debt grows as student jobs dry up

Students, on average, have fewer jobs and are struggling to meet higher costs as a result of the economic recession. That is the central result of NZUSA's most recent triennial Income and Expenditure Survey.

"Our research shows a massive drop in students doing regular or casual work during the academic year, from 90 percent in 2007 to just 65 percent in 2010. 58 percent are stressed about the effect of their financial situation on their study," says NZUSA co-President David Do.

The results of the survey show tuition fees have increased by 13 percent since 2007. The median amount students now pay is $5,400 per year, up 42 percent since 2001. Average student loan debt continues to climb and is now $15,558.

More students were taking out student loans than in 2007 indicating it has been more difficult to save for fees in the recent economic climate.

Mr Do also noted that there has been a decline in the number of student parents from 19 percent of the student population in 2007 to just 8 percent in 2010. NZUSA attributed this to rising childcare costs, a tight job market and cuts to the Training Incentive Allowance.

Other news

A nationwide petition has been launched by the early childhood teachers union NZEI Te Riu Roa, calling on the government to reverse the cuts to early childhood funding and commit to more investment in early childhood education. From today thousands of families will face increased fees as the cuts, which were announced in last year’s budget, take effect. The cuts significantly reduce funding for about 2,000 early childhood centres and services which have 80% or more fully qualified staff – NZEI Te Riu Roa

A scathing government report on the quality of research in Australia has led to calls that universities that conduct only small amounts of marginal, poor-quality research should be made into teaching-only universities, with the resources saved being ploughed back into strongly performing research areas - The Australian

Students are calling on the Government to immediately reject a baseless recommendation from the Savings Working Group that will make it harder to save. The Group’s report recommends, among other things, reintroducing interest on student loans after a student has graduated. "We understand the government wants to reduce its own debt, but in doing so it shouldn’t be putting on more debt onto the next generation," says NZUSA co-President David Do - NZUSA

American colleges and universities must speak with one voice and communicate a strong and singular vision for higher education in this country, said Eduardo M. Ochoa, the U.S. assistant secretary for postsecondary education. If colleges hope to maintain financial backing, particularly from the public, they will need to "speak with one voice and articulate a clear vision for higher education and its centrality to the health of the economy of the nation."  - The Chronicle

The increase of 1.7 per cent in wages for last year falls far short of price increases of 4 percent.

Peter Conway, CTU secretary, said: “The main reasons for wage increases cited in the Statistics NZ release were due to the cost of living and the incidence of collective bargaining by unions. Workers are now facing higher GST, food prices and petrol costs and this will add to pressure for higher wages - TVNZ

Enrolments at Otago Polytechnic are well up on the same period last year - so much so the institution may need to limit intakes later this year – Otago Daily Times

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TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day, email: stephen.day@teu.ac.nz

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