Tertiary Update Volume 12 Number 15

TEU’s national bargaining team will consider putting a ‘no compulsory redundancies’ claim in front of New Zealand’s eight universities.  The bargaining team, which includes TEU representatives from each university, will meet for the first time this Friday to look at the issues raised by TEU members at recently held consultation meetings and to draft a package of claims.

TEU deputy secretary, Nanette Cormack, says one of the most important issues TEU members raised at meetings was a strong concern about job security.  She says a claim around compulsory redundancy is likely to feature prominently in the draft claims when they are developed.

“The simple message we got from our members was that people on a collective agreement should not be made compulsorily redundant during the term of that agreement.  That seems like a reasonably easy thing for universities to agree to at this time.”

“Redundancy is big issue for many workers at the moment with the global recession threatening job security. But it’s bizarre to think, when university rolls are growing and most people are saying that we currently need tertiary education and research more than ever, that job security should be a looming concern for ordinary people working in universities.”

“If anything you would think this round of bargaining should be discussing how and where we are going to find all the new staff and retain the current staff we need to deal with the influx of new students.”

Also in Tertiary Update this week

1. Govt prepares for embarrassment on world stage
2. TEU opposes push for more individual PBRF data
3. ITPNZ names its best
4. Canterbury hui to discuss role of Māori in tertiary education
5. Lecturers call off ballot for action
6. The cost of a degree

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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: http://scr.im/stephenday