Tertiary Update, Vol 13 N0 7

Tertiary education minister Steven Joyce wants to cut the government’s student loan bill by removing access to the scheme for students who fail or drop out.

The minister told the” Weekend Herald that over 40 percent of New Zealand’s tertiary education budget goes on student loans and allowances, compared with an OECD average of only 17.6 percent.”  He plans to ‘rebalance’ costs by cutting access to loans for those who fail more than half of their courses. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority is also considering restricting the current open entry into tertiary education for students aged over 20.

“I’d like to see more money going into actually training EFTSs and I’m looking around for opportunities to deliver that in 2011,” Mr Joyce said.

“There is also student support. We want to make sure that is well-targeted. We are not going to change the interest-free loans, but we have to do some work on whether all the money is being spent as well as it should be.”

“We have an unusually high level of student support and people are taking advantage of that, so we are looking at ensuring that the student is making academic progress while they are taking up the loans.”

Unitec chief executive Rick Ede supported the principle of tying student loans to achievement, but NZUSA co-presidents David Do and Pene Delaney were critical.

“We are concerned that moves to restrict entry for over-20s will limit access to those who missed their first opportunities for tertiary education. This would disproportionately affect Māori, Pasifika, and second chance learners,” said Mr Delaney.

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. Taskforce calls for more certainty for CRI research funding
2. Employment key to recovery
3. Wilkinson wants less red tape to dismiss workers
4. Search and Surveillance Bill

Other news

A self-made millionaire and the key architect behind National’s rise to power recently was named the Government’s top man for the tertiary sector. In his” first interview with student media since taking over from Anne Tolley earlier this year, Steven Joyce talks to OUSA’s” Critic about his road to politics and his plans for, well, all of us.

Over a fifth of the New Zealand population aged between 25 and 64 has attained tertiary education at a degree level or above, according to” Ministry of Education data. This represents a doubling of”  the proportion of New Zealanders in that age group with a degree or above in the decade 1997 to 2007.

Hundreds of students are being turned away from Waiāriki Institute of Technology, prompting a call from its chief executive for the Government to raise the caps on student numbers. -” Rotorua Daily Post. And a 35 percent increase in enrolments has Unitec turning students away for the first time -” In Unison

A British university professor who resigned in protest at the ‘dumbing-down’ of degrees was treated unfairly when examination students he had failed were remarked to pass, the UK Court of Appeal has ruled -” the Telegraph

New Zealand’s apprenticeship system is in for a major shakeup, after evidence that only a fraction of young people are starting apprenticeships, and most of those who start then drop out -” The New Zealand Herald

An American author, whose book on the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima has been controversially dumped by its publisher, does not hold a doctorate from Victoria University as he claims, the university says. -” The Dominion Post

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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

Tertiary Update, Vol 13 No 6

Tertiary Education Union national president Dr Tom Ryan is concerned that equity funding which the Tertiary Education Commission currently provides to institutions with Māori, Pasifika and disabled students may not be renewed, or may be phased out in this year’s budget.

The funding, which was introduced 10 years ago, provides institutions with $133 for each Māori or Pasifika EFTS studying towards a diploma, $320 for a degree, and $444 for a postgraduate qualification. It also provides $28 for each student EFTS with a disability.

The Tertiary Education Commission states that equity funding helps tertiary education institutions to improve equity of access and achievement for Māori students, Pasifika students, and students with disabilities. Its purpose is to provide additional support for TEIs to improve participation, retention, completion, and progression.

The money currently is used in a range of ways by the various institutions. For instance, the University of Auckland’s” Tūakana Programme links tuākana (senior Māori students) with teina (new students), providing targeted assistance, mentoring and support to the teina. The university notes that, overall, participants in the Tuākana Programme havesignificantly higher retention and pass rates than those who do not participate.

The government’s 2009 tertiary education budget promised that additional savings could be made by reducing or cutting small items. Some were introduced last year and others will come on stream this year and in 2011.

“The current round of equity funding expires this year,” said Dr Ryan. “People working in tertiary education are looking for some assurance that, given its importance and success to date, it will continue.”

“The government recently has been expressing concerns over retention and success rates in tertiary education. Hopefully the Minister will decide that the equity fund has proved its worth and so should be continued .”

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. Hei Tauira tells Māori success stories
2. Students rally to defence of their associations
3. General staff at U Auckland seek fair pay
4. UK wants more two-year degrees
5. Fees don’t buy quality

Other news

The University of Waikato library has listed” Pei Te Hurinui Jones’ book collection on Legacy Libraries, an online index system that records the personal libraries of eminent historical figures. Pei Te Hurinui Jones, of Ngāti Maniapoto, was a leading Māori scholar and translator in the mid-20th century.

There is evidence that” increases in tertiary education have contributed to productivity growth – The Ministry of Education.

Private college numbers in Australia have surged by 20 percent in the past year, defying the federal government crackdown and prompting a warning the sector is still expanding too fast for regulators to cope. -” The Australian

Labour market outcomes two months after people finish” training opportunities placements are highly influenced by external factors such as the strength of local and regional labour markets, and the prior employment experience of learners, as well as whatever training occurs in the programme – The Ministry of Education

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard is warning opposition leader Tony Abbott that middle-income families from the bush on $80,000 with two university-age children will be $24,000 worse off if he continues to block her student income bill -” The Australian

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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

Tertiary Update, Vol 13 No 5

Tertiary Education Union members at the six polytechnics that have been in negotiations for nearly a whole year now, have again rejected their employers’ latest employment offer. Instead they are seeking facilitation under the Employment Relations Act.

Union members at the six polytechnics, NorthTec, Whitireia, Wintec, WITT, Unitec and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, have been taking industrial action since September last year to protect their working conditions. Last year they offered to accept a zero pay increases at four of the polytechnics in return for retaining their existing employment conditions. However the employers have remained adamant throughout the dispute that they wish to increase duty days and reduce leave provisions for their staff.

Facilitation, as described under the Act, provides a process that enables parties to employment bargaining who are having serious and sustained difficulties in concluding a collective agreement to seek the assistance of the Employment Relations Authority.

The TEU and its predecessor unions have never had to use facilitation, as outlined in the Act, to resolve any previous dispute.

After a year of negotiations, if no agreement is reached, a collective agreement expires and the employer can start to offer individual agreements. The Polytechnic MECA expires on 1 March this year. However the employers have assured TEU that they “have no agenda of seeking to move to individual employment agreements for all staff”.

TEU is requesting that during this next stage in the bargaining process and post 1 March polytechnics continue to honour the MECA, for all existing and new employees. If this happens TEU members will not take any industrial action over the coming weeks while the Authority considers its recommendation.

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. Protecting public education
2. ITF calls for rationalisation of polytechnic course
3. Self monitoring tool for the gender pay gap
4. Steven Joyce plays his cards
5. New Zealanders soak up tertiary education

Other news

Almost half the schools offering adult education have pulled out and one estimate is that only” 10 percent of last year’s student numbers will be in the classroom this year after last year’s budget cuts -” The Dominion Post

Minister Maurice Williamson announces he is going to make it” faster, easier and cheaper for qualified builders and trades people to get licensed.

Our over-reliance on” downsizing is killing workers, the economyâ”and even the bottom line -” Newsweek

Fee-free education, free breakfast and plenty of support are on offer under the Government’s Youth Guarantee Scheme, and” Tairawhiti Polytechnic has 30 spaces to fill -The Gisborne Herald

A soon-to-be-released Otago University review of rules on” staff-student romances, sparked by the brutal murder of Sophie Elliott by lecturer Clayton Weatherston, may force a sea change at New Zealand tertiary institutions -” Sunday Star Times

Many scholars feel that their freedom to question is in danger of being eroded or even lost. The” Times Higher Education Supplement examines the threat in the UK, Europe and America

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

Tertiary Update Vol 13 No 4

Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) has released a consultation document to its staff called ‘Towards a Sustainable Future – Meeting the Challenges of 2011 and Retaining WITT’s Independence and Autonomy‘. It identifies a significant reduction in revenue that will occur in 2011 as a result of changes to government funding. The document seeks feedback on its proposals by 5 March, with final decisions to be advised to staff on 22 March.

The report notes that funding to New Zealand’s twenty ITPs is scheduled to drop by over $44 million, or seven percent, next year. Funding specifically for WITT is scheduled to fall by $2.17 million, or 13 percent of WITT’s previously planned funding for 2011.

This reduction includes the elimination of a $1.3 million grant to recognise and compensate for WITT’s small scale. From 2011 all ITPs will be paid the same rate, regardless of size. The report also notes that more than $800,000 of funding for ‘student performance’ from the Tertiary Education Commission is now at risk.

WITT’s proposal to address this reduction in government funding is to grow as much as it can within its EFTS cap, identify alternative revenue streams (such as more overseas students), to increase fees, and reduce costs, including staffing costs.

It proposes to save $615,000 in direct staffing costs next year. Also WITT plans to make savings by reducing its health and safety payments to third party suppliers, reducing its contingency budget and reducing its training costs.

TEU national President Dr Tom Ryan says the government needs to own up to the damage it is doing to New Zealand polytechnics.

“WITT’s ‘Sustainable Future’ proposal is anything but that. It is a desperate attempt by a small, regional polytechnic to stay afloat in the face of an increasingly hostile government. And the whole situation reflects particularly badly on a government that claims to be the defender of the interests of rural constituencies,” said Dr Ryan.

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. PM calls tertiary education problems ”increasingly urgent”
2. Scientists say research funding is worse than a lottery
3. Govt focused on trades training for teenagers
4. Otago polytechnic CEO wants subcommittee for staff and students
5. Massey negotiations conclude with 1.5 percent proposal

Other news

Universities across Britain are preparing to” axe thousands of teaching jobs, close campuses, and ditch courses in order to cope with government funding cuts. Other plans include using post-graduates rather than professors for teaching, and the delay of major building projects -” The Guardian

At Massey University,” overall enrolments are up 20 per cent and international students have jumped 24 per cent compared with this time last year -” The Manawatu Standard

What if universities were to operate on a” piece-rate compensation basis, like the current US health system? They then would be an essentially unworkable and unaffordable pastiche of pedagogic profit-centers, each with its own fee schedules and ownership patterns. -” New York Times

Most parents are” paying more for private schools this year in New Zealand, despite a $35 million government funding boost to make them more affordable -” The Dominion Post

Canada’s First Nations University is likely to close next month, now that the federal government has followed the provincial Saskatchewan government in withdrawing funds. The university was once “considered a beacon for aboriginal education worldwide,” but has been hit by a series of financial and management scandals. -” The Globe and Mail

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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

Tertiary Update – Volume 13 Number 3

The prime minister John Key told” TV3′s Sunrise this week that he has given Steven Joyce the tertiary education portfolio to sort out the sector’s economic issues.

“If you look at the tertiary sector a lot of the challenges that lie before that sector are quite economic in nature”, stated the prime minister.

“There are some polytechnics which are struggling financially. There are issues around basically how the student loan policy works. There could be improvements in that policy, for instance. There’re a lot of economic issues in there and from our perspective Steven Joyce is well placed to take on those issues.”

When later challenged by NZUSA co-president David Do on what ‘improvements’ to the student loan scheme might mean, the Prime Minister confirmed that the government is not going to change interest-free student loans, telling the” New Zealand Herald:

“At the margins, at the boundaries, there are specific issues where, as I understand it, the universities and the student associations have been having some discussions,” Mr Key said. “But zero percent loans remain.”

Mr Joyce has not made any public statement yet on his views regarding the economic situation of New Zealand’s tertiary education system generally, or how best to address the problem of financially struggling polytechnics.

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. University of Otago to merge schools to save money
2. Tax reforms unlikely to address funding or inequality
3. Tertiary education won’t make you rich – in New Zealand
4. Ministry unlikely to reach Pasifika tertiary education target

Other news

• In the UK, the government’s decision to” withdraw the 10,000 extra places offered last year will see overall recruitment drop for 2010-11, despite an increase in applicants -” Times Higher Education Supplement
• A New Zealand teenager has auctioned off her virginity to a stranger for over $45,000 to” fund her university tuition fees -” Stuff
• Education International General Secretary Fred Van Leeuwen warned government and business leaders that” public spending cuts will slow down economic recovery and, worse, will be like a slap in the face to the millions of people who have lost their jobs and for whom education and training is their return ticket to the labour market -” Education International
• In the USA, as President Obama unveiled his administration’s fiscal 2011 budget with lots of talk about reining in discretionary spending, he largely” exempted programs important to higher education from the budget restraint he urged -Inside Higher Ed
• In Australia, education minister Julia Gillard talked up the government’s $5 billion,four-year package of reforms for universities. She noted the government would be investing almost AU$46bn in university teaching and research in the four years to 2011-12 -” The Australian
• British authorities have found that the former registrar of the University of Surrey and of the University of Bath offered African women fake degrees if they would let him spank them. He claimed that he was seeking their assistance with a “pain management” study -” The Times of London
• The latest round of the Labour Cost Index is out and it shows that the nation’s 400,000 union members are the workers holding their ground as businesses try to cut wage costs to preserve their profit margins -” The Standard

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

Tertiary Update, Vol 13 No 2, 28 January 2010

The prime minister announced this week that he was appointing a new minister of tertiary education, Steven Joyce, to replace Anne Tolley who had been in the job for only a year.

Mr Joyce will add the tertiary education portfolio to his existing roles as minister of transport and of communications and information technology, and associate minister of finance and of infrastructure.

The new minister is a” relative newcomer to parliament, having been elected in 2008. He has a zoology degree from Massey University and was previously managing director of the RadioWorks company, which he sold to Canwest media company in 2001. Since then he has” managed two election campaigns for the National Party, and acted as a consultant for John Key.

TEU national president Dr Tom Ryan” welcomed Mr Joyce to his new role, saying he hopes that the minister will be use his obvious abilities and influence for the betterment of the sector.

“In the medium term, Mr Joyce needs to confront the real effects of the major financial cuts imposed on the sector by the 2009 budget – especially given significant increases in government spending on tertiary education in Australia. Clearly, if this country’s tertiary sector is to maintain its competitive edge, there must be greater investment in it”.

“He also needs to remove the student enrolment cap in order to ensure that all competent young New Zealanders who want to pursue tertiary education in fact are able to do so, and that our post-recession workforce is properly trained and educated”, said Dr Ryan.

“The very first thing Mr Joyce should do, however, is to look to the level of industrial action in the ITP part of the sector which is shaping up to disrupt the beginning of the 2010 academic year. Employer intransigence has dragged some of the bargaining into a second year, and unless resolved will undoubtedly result in a further round of industrial disruption in a number of institutions over the coming months”

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. NorthTec enrols more students
2. Regional executives disestablished at Massey
3. Student unemployment rises in Gisborne
4. Most school leavers are becoming students
5. Minimum wage increases minimally

Other news

• US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton has” ended a pair of controversial bans, implemented by the recent Bush administration, that were preventing two internationally renowned academics from entering the USA – NEAR International
• Aoraki Polytechnic’s” buying spree continues – Scoop
• The South Island’s three universities, police and health groups are working together to curb a” binge-drinking “epidemic” -” ” The Press
• Global Campaign for Education urges improved education funding with its” 1Goal World Cup campaign to lift 75 million children out of poverty and into education – Education International
• Some male lecturers in Ghana and Tanzania “consider it their right to demand” sex for grades“, researchers at the University of Sussex have found -” Times Higher Education Supplement
• Indian company Manipal will take control of the online business learning joint venture” U21Global, after member universities agreed to a new strategy to expand a business that has so far failed to deliver -” The Australian

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

Tertiary Update Vol 13 No 1

A Department of Labour report,” Māori in the New Zealand Labour Market, shows that there has been a strong growth of Māori employed in education, including tertiary education, over the last five years. However there are likely to be job losses for Māori education workers in the upcoming eight years.

The recently released report provides a detailed examination of Māori in the labour market including educational, employment, unemployment and population trends. It also seeks to capture the impact of the current economic downturn on the Māori labour market.” 

Between 2004 and 2009 the number of Māori employed in education increased from 19,800 to over 22,000, an increase of 12 percent – slightly higher than the 11 percent rate of increase for non-Māori in working in education over the same period.

However, the department forecasts that the outlook is less positive for Māori education workers, with the number employed likely to fall by an average of 0.6 percent per year until 2018. That would equate to more than 130 Māori education workers losing their job each year until 2018.

The report also notes that the total median hourly earning for Māori workers in all jobs has failed to grow as fast as it has for non-Māori workers.”  In 2004 Māori were paid an average of $1.50 less per hour than non-Māori workers.”  Last year that gap had increased to $2 per hour. Māori women’s median hourly earnings from wages and salaries were $16.43, compared with $18.22 for all women. For Māori men, median hourly earnings were $18.31, compared with $20.53 for all men.” 

Also in” Tertiary Update“ this week

1. ITP MECA dispute enters new year
2. UNESCO calls for renewed effort on Education For All
3. Massey, Canterbury and Otago to exclude more students
4. Aoraki Polytechnic buys PTEs
5. US colleges feel pinch despite federal money

Other news

1. Plans by a United States university to open a” physiotherapy school in Queenstown“ which could initially cater for 25 students have been placed on hold -” The Otago Daily Times
2. At least 80 universities in Britain may” abandon postgraduate research“ as funding is concentrated on centres of global excellence -” The Australian
3. Universities Australia has warned this year’s” big expansion of places is unsustainable“ and the sector will face a challenge to maintain quality and expand unless backed by additional teaching and infrastructure money -” The Australian
4. Humanities departments in former polytechnics should” bear the brunt of funding cuts“ to higher education in Britain, the House of Lords heard this week -” Times Higher Education

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

Tertiary Update, Vol 12 No 43

The negotiation team for union members covered by the fraught ITP multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) met with the employers for two further days of mediation this week to try again to settle the agreement which expired almost nine months ago.

Members at the six polytechnics have been taking industrial action to protect their working conditions for several months now, but to no avail.

This week the TEU team amended its position in order to try to find a path to settlement. They offered the employers a rollover until 1 May 2010, with zero percent increases at NorthTec, Whitireia, Wintec and WITT, and a four percent backdated increase at Unitec and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic to address the inequity “ of non-members at those two institutions having been given that increase by the employers.

The team also offered to settle either within the current MECA framework or to look at other options such as a smaller MECA or SECAs (single employer collective agreements).

Unbelievably, despite being offered this wide range of concessions, including what is effectively a pay cut for members in four of the institutions, the employers still said” no.

TEU national industrial officer Irena Brorens labelled this “an extremely hostile employer position”.

“It makes a nonsense of one of the key planks of the employers’ argument, which consistently has been that the State Services Commission is demanding zero percent increases unless there are specified productivity gains.”  We have now put to four of these employers a zero percent rollover, with offers of different collective settlements to the current MECA, and they are refusing those offers.”

The employers have agreed to consider further options and respond to the union team by 17 December. However, the bargaining team will be making plans for sustained industrial action for the start of the academic year. Irena Brorens said that she hopes the employers will reconsider their latest position, which is seen as being very antagonistic by their employees.

“The best possible outcome for students, our members, and for these employers is that we can go into 2010 with settled collectives. Otherwise we face further action in the new year, and employment relationships which will take years to heal.”

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. University of Canterbury’s change process for general staff
2. Polytechnic librarians face widening pay gap
3. Two more universities settle collective agreements
4. Minister celebrates international students increase
5. China warns students to avoid Aussie PTEs
6. Postgrad student resigns to protest teaching for free

This is the last edition of Tertiary Update for 2009.”  We will be back in mid-to-late-January next year, with more news from the tertiary education sector written from the perspective of those who work in it.” Thanks to Sharn, Jo, Graeme, Lee, Tom and others who, in a year of recession and cut backs, have consistently made sure that I remember the difference between ‘less’ and ‘fewer’. Thanks also to all our readers for the feedback, story suggestions, and advice. Happy holidays for those who have them.

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

Tertiary Update Volume 12 Number 42

The minister for tertiary education, Hon Anne Tolley, announced last week that she was looking for nominees to fill the four ministerially-appointed councillor roles in up to 31 tertiary education institution councils, including universities, wananga and institutes of technology and polytechnics.

The minister’s notice to interested parties noted that she will have a number of council appointments to make throughout 2010, and that she would like to pull together a pool of quality candidates who are interested in being considered for appointment.

Mrs Tolley’s call for nominations, which arrived at the Tertiary Education Union late on Thursday evening last week, closed on Monday this week, giving potential nominees just two working days to submit their expressions of interest. The union is unaware of any earlier public call for nominations, other than the email sent last Thursday.

Sections 171 (4) and 171 (5) of the Education Act suggest that candidates should reflect the ethnic and socio-economic diversity of the communities they serve, and that half should be male and half female.” There should also be a sufficient number of members with expertise in management, experience of governance, and specialist skills.

The minister’s statement says that ideal candidates will have” a portfolio of public, private, or not-for-profit sector board appointments; and/or a career history that includes executive level leadership of private or public sector organisations; and/or expertise in a relevant professional area such as education, finance, law or social policy.

TEU president Dr Tom Ryan says that these appointments could have particular significance for the ITP sector, as a new and less democratic council structure is likely to be introduced there early next year.

“Those ministerial appointees to ITP councils will effectively have a voting majority from next year, so people the minister picks will from now on be playing an important role in the direction of education for our polytechnics and institutes of technology.”

“It’s unfortunate we have been unable to forward any nominations for these positions. Two days is an impossibly brief time to try to complete such a process.”

Also in” Tertiary Update this week:

1. Bargaining concludes at Auckland, Waikato, Otago and Vic
2. Minister replaces training allowance with smaller loan
3. Keep education out of WTO agreements
4. ‘What? There is no University of Newlands?’
5. Govt readies NZ for spending cuts
6. 60-year-olds rack up student loan debt

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

Tertiary Update, Volume 12 Number 41

It has now been over three weeks since union members at the six North Island polytechnics covered by the ITP MECA resumed industrial action, and a resolution still does not seem imminent. Lecturers and tutors at NorthTec, Unitec, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, Waikato Institute of Technology, Whitireia Polytechnic, and Western Institute of Technology are protesting especially at employers’ attempts to negotiate significant cuts to existing employment work conditions.

These include the ability to potentially make the use of the four weeks discretionary leave at the employers’ discretion and increasing the number of annual teaching days from 185 to 204. TEU members at the six polytechnics also are opposed to the pay offer of 2 percent pay over 18 months, with no backdating. (The current agreement expired eight months ago.)

As part of their ongoing industrial action, also, union members at three of the polytechnics – Unitec, Whitireia, and WINTEC – have voted to withhold student marks and not participate in any processing of marks.

“The last thing lecturers want to do is to undermine their students’ learning,” said TEU national industrial officer Irena Brorens. “And they certainly don’t want to withhold assessment marks, but the employers have left them with little choice.”  This action has been taken by our members to impress upon the employers their commitment to rejecting these proposed cuts in conditions.”

TEU negotiators are eager to return either to negotiations or mediation as quickly as possible, if it will progress the dispute.

Also in Tertiary Update this week

1. Massey leads way with pay and equity review
2. TEC hands out performance bonuses to polytechnics
3. Story time with the minister
4. Academics and students lose right to voice on ITP councils
5. Melbourne University staff vote to withhold marks
6. Two unions become one in South Africa

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