Talking to politicians.

We've had a productive time getting the issues of members in front of two political parties in the last week.

The Tumu Whakarae | National Co-Presidents, Garrick and Ti, along with our Te Pou Ahurei | National Secretary, Amy, met with NZ First MPs Mark Patterson and Andy Foster – a meeting which had been requested by TEU months ago.

The focus of the meeting was to raise members’ concerns about what the impact of the changes to the Employment Relations Amendment Bill will mean for working people (for more information you can click here Explainer | Employment Relations Amendment Bill 2025 - NZCTU). The TEU team felt that it was a worthwhile meeting and at the end of the meeting NZ First was invited to attend TEU conference in May. We’ll see if they take up the invite!

On the same day as meeting with NZ First we also met with Green MPs Chlöe Swarbrick, Ricardo Menéndez March, Teanau Tuiono, and Francisco Hernandez.

The Greens were clear that they are:

• Eager for our feedback on their draft tertiary policy manifesto,
• Keen for us to help articulate a bold, unified vision for the tertiary sector – one grounded in clear, tangible actions. This includes identifying which legislation needs to be changed, rebuilt, repealed, or reinstated, and detailing what true academic freedom and education as a public good should look like in practice.

The meeting was a constructive reminder that naming the problems is no longer enough. We are being challenged – and invited – to define the solutions, map the steps, and set out the transformation required to rebuild a strong, future focused tertiary education system. It’s a challenge we welcome and are ready to take up.focused tertiary education system. It’s a challenge we welcome and are ready to take up.