Te Tiriti and Our Union.

In the first instalment of Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union’s video series sharing members’ perspectives on our rules review, Matua Hōne Sadler and Dr Heather Came discuss Te Tiriti, why it matters in the TEU and why we say Te Tiriti and not “the treaty”.

Matua Hōne, the TEU’s Kaumātua and a highly respected Ngāpuhi elder, sums it up nicely when he says “It’s about including people, and it’s not about one on top of the other, it’s about doing it together.”

Dr Came agrees. Sharing her perspective as a rank and file TEU member from the Department of Public Health at AUT, she says she would be “bitterly disappointed” if her union wasn’t interested in advancing issues of racial justice in addition to pay and working conditions.

“If unions are about social justice, they’re about racial justice too. So it’s about looking after the interests of the Māori members, it’s about looking after Māori staff and creating a culture where there’s no racism within the union, and that we’re proactive in standing in solidarity around issues that are important to Māori members.”