Petitions to keep training local.

Last week, Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union delivered our ‘Save NorthTec’ petition, brimming with over 1,000 signatures, to Northland list MP and cabinet minister Shane Jones in his Beehive office. The meeting followed the launch the week before of our second such petition, asking the Porirua community to join us and ‘Save Whitireia’.

The meeting with Minister Jones was fruitful, as both parties shared our mutual concerns for the future of NorthTec and the critical importance of vocational education and training in Northland and right across regional Aotearoa New Zealand.

Both petitions are in response to government proposals that TEU has repeatedly warned will gut regional polytechnics. If they go ahead, it’s expected that campuses will close, jobs will be lost, and courses will be cut or moved online.

At Whitireia, Tumu Whakarae – Māori | National President – Māori Huhana Watene and Te Kauae Kaimahi | Council of Trade Unions President Richard Wagstaff publicly launched the latest local petition which demands “a strong, independent and properly resourced Whitireia that meets the needs of our region by providing local, public and quality training for our kaimahi.”

Huhana Watene told the assembled crowd “I just wanted to let you know the union is serious about supporting Whitireia. It is the heart and soul of this community. TEU is here fighting for quality education.”

Richard Wagstaff reminded Whitireia members that “you’re part of a wider context of attacks by government on community, on Māori, on unions, on public services. You’re not alone. The wider trade union movement is deeply concerned about what has been going on. We CAN stop them! But we can’t if we do nothing.”

You can listen to Richard Wagstaff’s full address to members here.

If you would like a copy of the Save Whitireia petition, please contact Drew Mayhem.