University of Auckland gardeners and security officers have won a living wage in recent negotiations. The gardeners and security officers are members of either the Service and Food Workers Union (SFWU) or TEU. The pay rise for both groups of members was 1.2 percent and 1.2 percent on paid and printed rates for a two [...]

TEU is taking the University of Auckland’s vice-chancellor, Stuart McCutcheon, to the Employment Relations Authority in two months’ time, saying he does not have the right to introduce a new academic standards policy to govern promotions. The vice-chancellor announced the proposed new policy in August last year without consulting with staff. TEU has rejected the [...]

The University of Auckland plans to outsource its mediation service and make its mediation team redundant. The university argues it has a conflict of interest because it employs its own mediator to mediate between university management and staff. Therefore, it intends to contract out the role out to independent contractors. TEU organiser Enzo Giordani says [...]

Minister for Tertiary Education Steven Joyce opened the week threatening to force the University of Auckland to take more engineering students. The New Zealand Herald reported on Monday that vice-chancellor Stuart McCutcheon believed this could result in layoffs elsewhere in the university. Mr Joyce told the Herald that, if necessary, he would step in to [...]

Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce is threatening to force the University of Auckland to take more engineering students, even though the university says this could cause layoffs elsewhere on the campus. Mr Joyce said that if necessary, he would step in to force change at Auckland University. “If they want us to be more directive, [...]

Steven Joyce’s threat to cut the University of Auckland’s funding unless it teaches what he wants is a direct attack on academic freedom, says TEU national president Sandra Grey. “The Minister is trampling over the University of Auckland’s institutional autonomy and over academic freedom, as legislated for in the Education Act.” Dr Grey says it [...]

Tertiary Update Vol 15 No 36 The current round of fee rises that university councils are announcing is another sign the government’s cuts to education are unsustainable says TEU’s University of Auckland branch president Paul Taillon. The universities of Auckland, Lincoln and Waikato announced this week that it would increase fees by 4 percent next [...]

Professional Teaching Fellows at the University of Auckland can now belong to the Academic Staff Collective Agreement at the university.  Until now professional teaching fellows (PTFs) have all been on individual agreements. TEU’s negotiation team says the right to belong to the collective agreement means those PTFs now have clauses outlining rights around parental leave, [...]

New Zealand’s public universities are letting big business and overseas political lobbyists dupe them into endorsing bad education policy, says TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs. The universities of Victoria, Auckland and Canterbury all held or are holding public meetings this week where USA charter schools proponent Mike Feinberg will get a platform to argue his [...]

The University of Auckland has announced a proposed restructure of professional staff at the Faculty of Education. The proposal disestablishes 40 professional staff positions with 30 new positions created. The faculty dean, Graeme Aitken, has said the review aims primarily to cut costs as the vice-chancellor requires the faculty to increase its contribution margin to [...]