Late last week WITT council chair Mary Bourke told the Taranaki Daily Times there was an expectation, which was not coming from the polytechnic sector, that there would be no pay increases for employees. “Fundamentally, our hands as an employer are sort of tied,” she said.

This public comment adds weight to TEU’s concerns that the State Services Commission” and/or the government may be interfering unreasonably in good faith bargaining at polytechnics.

“The State Services Commission and the government are giving the impression that they actively dislike polytechnics and their staff,” said TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs. “They cut their funding, savage their councils, and undermine their credibility. And now they appear to be striving to suppress the pay and working conditions of hard working polytechnic staff.”