‘Nobody asked me!’

- That’s the single biggest reason people give for not having joined a union. And the best people to recruit new members are the TEU members working alongside them. The beginning of the academic year is a great time to be asking potential new union members if they have thought about joining TEU.

Why recruiting is essential

One of the most vital jobs for a union delegate, organiser or keen member, is to recruit new members.

Organised workplaces with a high density of union membership means TEU will have much greater power to achieve our goals.

Members will have a stronger sense of confidence and ability to change things, together with much higher chances of winning recognition.

They will have more delegates, health and safety representatives and workplace contacts who run the union locally and ensure that the branch is truly representative and democratic.

All of this means that the union will have greater influence both locally and nationally, which helps TEU campaign to improve public tertiary education, and for better pay, leave and working conditions.

The union will have greater stability. The more members we have locally, the greater income the branch has to provide support for you in your job – and the less need we have to increase union fees!

Remember that it is particularly important to recruit young members if TEU is to grow and be strong in the future.

Recruiting new members

Recruiting is easier than it sounds.

Research shows that the main reason people in New Zealand do not join unions is simply that no one has asked them. Recruiting is most successful if done by colleagues and fellow workers, which is why every member should be a recruiter.

The TEU offers lots of great services and has a team of highly experienced and respected staff, but our most valuable resource is the power of its members working collectively together for a shared goal.

You can download” membership forms and” other recruitment material from the TEU website. Or,even more easily, people can join on line at” http://www.teu.ac.nz/?page_id=3

If you’re not sure how to start recruiting ask your local organiser for advice. Good luck!

Trial National Standards, not our kids

As thousands of children head back to school, education union NZEI is kicking off a nationwide bus tour calling for National Standards to be trialed. You can sign up with your support at the” Hands Up for Learning website.

Save ACC march and rally

Tuesday 16 February, 12pm, Parliament

A march and rally to protest against the Government’s attacks on ACC will take place at Parliament in Wellington on 16 February. The rally will be held under the banner of theACC Futures Coalition but will aim to attract many organisations and individuals from beyond the coalition to express the widest possible opposition to the assault on ACC.

Rally against prison privatisation

The Corrections Officers Association of New Zealand (CANZ) are organising a rally against prison privatisation at Parliament at 1:30pm on Tuesday 9 February.”  CTU President Helen Kelly will speak.

This is a crucial time as while the Government has already changed the legislation to enable private prison management, formal decisions will soon be taken about which prisons will be privatised first, which company will manage these prisons and the content of any agreement with the contracting company.

Contribute to Kua Rangona

To submit local news, events or other information to” Kua Rangona contact Stephen Day phone or text 021 2900 734 or email” http://scr.im/stephenday. This might include details of upcoming branch meetings, photos of events, issues you want to share with other people or even birthday wishes. If we’ve got space we’ll try to publish it.