NorthTec members to vote on proposed settlement.

Following 12 months of negotiations and unwavering support and encouragement from TEU members across Aotearoa, the TEU bargaining team at NorthTec is pleased to announce they now have a proposed settlement to recommend to members.

Recent months have seen a lot of uncertainty for the tutors working at NorthTec. Offers made by NorthTec were deemed unacceptable by members at the polytechnic and they voted unanimously for strike action commencing in February. Since then we have seen the country go into lockdown as the world continues to grapple with a global pandemic.

Amidst this uncertainty and throughout negotiations, TEU members have supported each other and come together united and strong. As a result, the TEU NorthTec bargaining team has now reached a proposed settlement that maintains all employment conditions and includes a salary increase over two years. TEU believes the proposed settlement will ensure a stable collective agreement in potentially unsettled and unsettling times.

According to NorthTec co-branch president Sharlene Nelson,

‘It has been a long, tough struggle the last 12 months with bargaining. Despite this, we proved that NorthTec TEU members are strong, persistent and truly are stronger together. We appreciate that we did not get all that we set out to achieve but retaining the collective agreement became increasingly important. Thank you for all your support and encouragement throughout bargaining’.

TEU national industrial officer Irena Brorens says the success in reaching the proposed settlement is testament to the hard work and determination of NorthTec members in taking collective action to achieve a collective agreement that might have been under threat by the employers claims in the negotiations.

The bargaining team thanks TEU members for all the support over the last 12 months. According to TEU NorthTec branch organiser Jill Jones:

‘From the messages of encouragement we’ve received, through to those who stood with our NorthTec members during strike action, the support shown by TEU members, colleagues and the community has been incredible. This settlement could not have been achieved without the strength and solidarity of our members at NorthTec who have truly shown their employer what ‘Stronger Together’ means at TEU’.