New environment, same energy.

Hau Taki Haere | Tertiary Update Vol 28, No 1

By Tumu Whakarae | National Presidents Hūhana Wātene and Dr Julie Douglas

On behalf of the TEU we warmly welcome you to another new academic year and another year of high visibility and action for our union.

A lot has changed in the last few months. We have a new political environment, with a government and Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills who have very different priorities and ideology to their predecessors. This presents us with new challenges – we will have to work much harder to be heard and make a difference at the highest levels. But it will also create opportunities to be bigger, bolder, and louder than ever before.

Our priority campaigns in 2024 will come as little surprise:

• Negotiate a single collective agreement for all members in Te Pūkenga
• Fight to protect core conditions for all members and fight for pay rises that meet inflation
• Protect and enhance union rights
• Achieve gender pay equity for Library Assistants and Administrators in the university sector
• Ensure we are taking actions which balance the needs of people and planet
• Defend and expand the provision of public tertiary education
• Embed co-governance in the TEU both nationally and locally

To achieve these goals, we need to strengthen our union by building membership and activating our members. Please keep an eye out for opportunities to be involved, engaged, and active. We don’t expect everyone to have hours per day to devote to our mahi – but if everyone does a small amount, we can continue to be a force to be reckoned with and keep pushing to make Aotearoa’s tertiary education sector a better place to work.

We are both looking forward to visiting campuses across the motu this year. Our aim is to ensure members talk to us and other leaders of our union so we can make decisions on your behalf that reflect the sort of union you want us to be.

Together, we are confident we will rise to our challenges and take our opportunities.

Tū Kotahi, tū kaha!

Also in this update:

• Stand up, take action, get involved
• We’ll do our thing no matter what
• Pay equity for library and support workers
• TEU networks in 2024

Other Stories:

NZCTU disappointed with disestablishment of Regional Skills Leadership Groups – NZCTU

Cuts at Waikato expected to be the first of many in 2024 – TEU

University of Waikato proposes admin staff cuts in first stage of restructure – Waikato Times

What it's like being a queer Chinese international student in NZ – One News