Tertiary Update Vol 15 No 38 - Proposed new employment laws

Proposed new employment laws to drive down work-rights
Proposed new employment laws announced by the government this week make it easier for employers to walk away from negotiations and harder for workers to take industrial action. The Government also wants to remove protections for new employees who can now be offered worse terms and conditions than the collective agreement. The government expects to present the proposed new laws to Parliament before Christmas.
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Manawatu-Whanganui reeling from foundation studies cuts
UCOL's proposal to cut 22 courses in the wake of losing public funding for level 1-2 foundation level courses has caused widespread concern in the Whanganui and Manawatu regions. A group of Wanganui district councillors has now called for an extraordinary council meeting in the wake of the UCOL decision.
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Sacked workers have right to know why
Last year TEU members won an important legal case against Massey University that allowed workers who were being sacked during a restructuring of their job to see the information their employer was using to sack them. But now the government’s suite of proposed employment law changes includes a proposal to take that legal right away from workers, so they won’t know why they lose their job.
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Petition tells Open Poly to keep research time
A delegation of Wellington-based staff at the Open Polytechnic presented a petition to their chief executive Caroline Seelig yesterday, saying they did not want to see their research and development time cut in half. The polytechnic is seeking, through employment negotiations, to cut its research and development time provision from 30 days a year down to 15.
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TEU voters pick national leaders this week.
TEU is holding four elections this week and next. Below is information about each of the candidates for each election.
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Other news
On 21 October Bahraini teacher leaders, Mahdi Abu Dheeb and Jalila al-Salmanan were jailed for supporting calls for reform in Bahrain. Whilst in detention they have been subjected to torture and forced to sign 'confessions'. Education International is calling for teachers around the world to increase pressure on the Bahraini authorities to respect human and trade union rights and immediately and unconditionally release Mahdi and ensure that Jalila does not serve any of her remaining sentence - Education International and LabourStart
The Australian government has enabled rushed legislation that could put researchers at a disadvantage to their US counterparts, says University of Sydney deputy vice-chancellor of research Jill Trewhella. Under the bill, researchers who share proscribed information without permission could be subject to up to ten years in prison - The Conversation
The University of Auckland has called a meeting with some of Auckland's secondary schools which use an alternative exam system to NCEA, amid concerns too many students from those schools are unprepared for degree-level study - New Zealand Herald
The Government will provide another year of guaranteed funding to the three Canterbury tertiary education institutions, regardless of enrolment levels, as they recover from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes - tertiary education, skills and employment minister Steven Joyce

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