Massey University has contacted us to say there were some errors in the Manawatu Standard story upon which we based our Tertiary Update story yesterday: Vice-chancellor Steve Maharey has made the following statement to staff at the university: The living wage: The university has taken no position on this issue.  During an interview on Radio NZ National, to discuss the living wage concept I indicated that it was a very [...]

Tertiary Update Vol 16 No 15 Massey University will likely be next to follow The Warehouse by offering its workers a “living wage” according to the Manawatu Standard earlier this week. University spokesman James Gardiner told the Standard the university would meet tertiary union representatives at the pay negotiations table with an offer to match [...]

Guest article from Prof. Jack Heinemann University of Canterbury branch president: In his weekly article in the Christchurch Press (14 May), Chris Trotter makes the important point that persistent underfunding of fundamental New Zealand assets – its universities and polytechnics – diminishes the country, threatens its reputation, and leaves a legacy liability of future underperformance. But [...]

The passing of the marriage equality act last month reflects not only a change in New Zealand’s legal attempts to address discrimination against LGBTI people, but also a growing acceptance among a majority that ‘homophobia and gender identity discrimination is not acceptable. However many LGBTI workers still face discrimination in the workplace, including tertiary education [...]

Tertiary Update Vol 16 No 14 Massey University staff, whose minimum pay rates are more than $5 per hour below the living wage, deserve better pay says local TEU organiser Dean Scott. “Massey is a big public employer in the Manawatu and it has a leadership role in its community ensuring local people are paid a living [...]

Tertiary Update Vol 16 No 13 Lincoln spent $1.2 million dollars last year on external consultants and has already spent a further $200,000 this year. TEU organiser Cindy Doull obtained the information from an official information request to the university. TEU members are initiating for collective agreement negotiations with Lincoln today and Cindy Doull says she would [...]

The Labour Party’s new tertiary education spokesperson Dr Megan Woods has challenged the government in parliament last week over its policy to  abolish student allowances for post-graduate study, asking if there is a link between  this and the fall in post-graduate numbers at the universities of Otago and Canterbury. In parliament the deputy prime minister [...]

The University of Canterbury will run out of money next year, according to the Press, forcing it to borrow cash to fund its day-to-day operations. The university has already asked for government help, but vice-chancellor Rod Carr insists it is not facing an “imminent crisis”. The Press reports that student numbers have fallen again, delivering [...]

The University of Otago is not expecting to reach its budgeted number of students for the year according to a report in the Otago Daily Times Enrolments fell 2.3 percent from last year with postgraduate and international numbers hit particularly hard, with a fall of 8 percent. According to the ODT vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne [...]

University of Canterbury cleaners are among the lowest paid members of TEU and accordingly the branch there was concerned when it started receiving complaints from some cleaners that the impact of a new parking policy was going to affect them disproportionately. The university’s new policy would cost them up to $300 a year for parking [...]