9 September 2010

The Government is paving the way for a return to the ruthless eradication of workers’ rights according to the statement of stand-in Labour minister Pansy Wong in Parliament today, said the CTU.

In response to questioning from Labour’s Darien Fenton on whether the Government was planning any further changes to employment law not already included in those announced at the National Party conference in July, Wong replied that everything was up for consideration and nothing was ruled out.

“Pansy Wong has signalled a very grave threat to every single worker in New Zealand,” said CTU President Helen Kelly. “She did not rule out, for example, employers contracting out of personal grievance provisions already in danger of being weakened by existing proposals. This would mean, for example, employers being allowed to set different personal grievance rights for different employees.”

“She also refused to rule out reviews of protections for those on temporary and fixed term contracts or the reintroduction of a youth minimum wage. Given the revelations about the ACT Party’s role in pushing through the 90 day fire-at-will law for all businesses it should be no surprise to see the door being opened to more of Roger Douglas’s failed policies, but it should set the alarm bells ringing for everyone.”

“In the space of little more than a year John Key has gone from a willingness to work together with unions on common ground to a full-on attack on their fundamental rights and has now signalled that anything goes on the cutting back of employment rights to an extent that recalls the Employment Contracts Act of the 1990s.”

“No one can now think that the Government’s employment law reforms don’t affect them. Their job security and their future prosperity are now firmly in the firing line.”

“Workers in vulnerable employment struggle with inadequate earnings and difficult conditions –and are not connected to the protections and social dialogue which define decent work.”

She pointed out to delegates at the Second International Trade Union Confederation World Congress in Vancouver during June, that the over-riding factor in achieving the six Millenium Development Goals (MDG), which was determined by world leaders in 2000 with an aim to have accomplished them by 2015, was an explicit target on achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people.

“More broadly,decent work is a reason in meeting all the other MDGs,” she said.“Stable and decent jobs enable families to have enough income and food,to be well nourished, to send their children to school, and to access healthcare.”

The work of UnionAID in India, Thailand and Sri Lanka focuses clearly on the needs of vulnerable and/or oppressed workers who, through the support of unionism, can become organised and plot their own paths.

“As key stakeholders,” she said, “unions can help refocus attention on decent work and the need to make it an explicit priority. ”She also stressed how we must empower women and girls and include measures which “close the stubborn gender gap in employment and wages”.

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Dr Roy Sharp told TEU last week that “We are not using a league table model.” However, what his Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has done this week is release a table of tertiary institutions ranking them from top to bottom according to how they perform against four indicators. The indicators are: successful course completion, completion of qualifications, student progression to higher level study, and students retained in study.

The TEC’s non-league table drew immediate criticism from TEU national secretary, Sharn Riggs, who said that it provided students and the public with irrelevant comparisons and bad measurements.

“League tables like those released today simply tell institutions and their prospective students that we measure success not by how far you come but how far in front you start before the journey even begins.”

Those institutions that ranked highly on the tables were quick to publically praise their own success, but attention is now turning to those that ranked at the foot of the tables.

TEC has signalled that those institutions which do not measure up according to this data may lose up to 5 percent of their overall public funding.

NZ ITP Chairman Dr James Buwalda says that it can be useful to compare performance of institutions at the level of study you’re interested in, “but the aggregate measures also published today provide no useful information.”

“Students at different levels face different barriers to completion and progression – a second-chance student in foundation education (levels 1-2) will face different challenges to a PhD student with years of study under their belt. For example, part time students do not complete qualifications or progress to higher levels at the same rates as those in full-time study. Many find it challenging to balance their study with work and other programmes.”

Ralph Springett, President of the Massey University Extramural Students’ Society says Massey, with its large part time extramural cohort, is being penalised for providing education to those balancing study with work, parenting and financial pressures.

“The government has lost the plot when it comes to the value of part time study,” says Mr Springett. “It is ridiculous that students who avoid taking a student loan and work productively are the ones singled out as non-performers.”

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. Earthquake hit institutions rebuilding
2. Redundancies continue in Otago
3. University general staff to contest TEU election
4. Student fees increase dramatically
5. Dr Sharp calls for more measurement and rankings
6. Reading the international university ranking tea leaves

Other news

Massey University’s College of Education announced yesterday that new students would vie for 200 fewer places, with only the highest-calibre applicants guaranteed acceptance. The announcement came after a Government clamp-down on funding contributed to tightened entry criteria, which now affects all of the university’s teaching programmes. The total first-year intake to the College of Education for next year will be 370, down from 575 this year. Current students will not be affected by the cutbacks  – Manawatu Standard

Trev is not this Kiwi loan refugee’s real name, but that’s what we’ll call him because he wouldn’t be too happy to be outed and get a knock on his Queensland door from a debt collector, thanks to a small loan he took out as a 19-year-old, largely to buy a stereo. Five years ago the original $7000 had risen to $157,000 and was accelerating so fast Trev fears the total is likely to be approaching $250,000 by now  – The New Zealand Herald

“Good education increases employability,” says OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. “In countries hit early by the recession, people with lower levels of education had more difficulties finding and keeping a job.” With demand for tertiary courses rising, according to analysis in this year’s edition of Education at a Glance, public resources invested in university education also pay off handsomely by bringing in additional tax revenues – OECD

Despite the unequivocal evidence of the economic crisis caused by unrestrained financial markets a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) continues to argue for spending efficiencies and the pursuit of failed market mechanisms in public education. – Education International

Psychologists have discovered that some of the most hallowed advice on study habits is flat wrong. For instance, many study skills courses insist that students find a specific place, a study room or a quiet corner of the library, to take their work. The research finds just the opposite – New York Times

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TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day, email: stephen.day@teu.ac.nz

The University of Canterbury’s vice-chancellor, Rod Carr, reports that the university is making good progress as it works through its earthquake recovery phase.

“Aftershocks overnight caused some additional minor damage, but have not slowed up the progress of the recovery plan.”

All staff and students not involved in assessment and clean-up of the university have been asked to remain off campus so that selected personnel can focus on the recovery efforts.

“There will be a managed approach to clean-up efforts which will be communicated to staff and students, following tomorrow’s decision concerning restarting university activities no sooner than Monday 13 September.”

CPIT chief executive Kay Giles advises that her institution’s buildings have been certified structurally safe and sound with engineering approval. CPIT is planning to reopen its campus on 13 September.

Lincoln University’s vice-chancellor, professor Roger Field, says that Lincoln sustained a large volume of damage, “But thankfully at this point it appears that most is able to be repaired. Sadly one exception to this is Memorial Hall which has sustained more damage.”

Meanwhile, the New Zealand Herald reports that at the University of Canterbury there have been major chemical spills, millions of books have been thrown from the shelves, and an acclaimed collection of Greek and Roman antiquities worth millions of dollars has been badly damaged.

Thanks to Ann (Helen) Devereux at Flickr for the photo

The Otago Daily Times reports that the University of Otago’s College of Education will designate 15 jobs redundant by the end of next year, with more position losses signalled for 2012. It also reports that 20 staff will lose their jobs or accept reduced hours at Otago Polytechnic by the end of the year.

A review of staffing at the polytechnic’s Dunedin and Cromwell campuses, and a call for voluntary redundancies and early retirements, have led to a reduction of 15.1 full-time equivalent positions, affecting about 20 staff, human resources general manager Matt Carter said yesterday.

There could be more job losses or reduced work hours to come, he said, though he could not say how many positions would be affected or when decisions might be made.

The polytechnic is blaming government funding cuts for the redundancies and reduction in hours. Tertiary institutions should be investing in staff rather than shedding them, Mr Carter said.

“Staff are quite upset. All our staff are committed to [what we do] and are frustrated we have been put in a position of having to do this to make cost savings.”

Meanwhile, at the University of Otago, 12 full-time-equivalent teacher education fellow positions and three administration positions would go late this year or during next year. Then in 2012 there will be further reductions as specific teaching commitments end, but the university hopes these will occur through attrition.

Staff and the TEU said that the university’s initial restructuring proposal, and a revised proposal released last month after submissions were considered, unfairly targeted teacher educators.

Thanks to Tama Leaver for the photo

The election, which TEU members who are general staff working at a university will all be able to vote in, will be en electronic ballot and is scheduled to begin on Sept 20.

Meanwhile, ITP vice-president, Ken Laraman, and Te Tumu Arataki, Cheri Waititi, have been re-elected unopposed

On the University Sector Group (USG), Nan Seuffert (University of Waikato) and Scott Walters (Lincoln University) were elected unopposed.  In the ITP sector group (ITPSG),  Lesley Francey (MIT),  Eric Stone (NorthTec), Glennis Birks (WINTEC), Tina Smith (UCOL), and Fiona Mason (UCOL) were all elected unopposed.

The National Women’s Committee saw Alexandra Sims (University of Auckland), Vicki-Lee Tyacke (UCOL), Sue Bretherton (AUT), Fran Richardson (Whitireia), Lyndsay Ainsworth (Lincoln University), and Pip Bruce Ferguson (Waikato University) elected unopposed.

The successful candidates will all take up their positions on 1 January 2011

Returning officer, Sharn Riggs, has reopened nominations for a number of the positions that were unfilled after nominations closed at the end of August.  They include University Academic Vice-President, seven positions on the University Sector Group, three positions on the ITP Sector Group, and one position on the General Staff Sector Group.

Radio New Zealand reports three tertiary institutions have raised their fees for 2011 – all by the 4 percent maximum allowed by the government.

NZUSA expects most other tertiary institutions will do the same. They also worry institutions will raise their fees for student services, despite government warnings about such increases.

Co-president Pene Delaney says Government under-funding to the sector is driving the increases, and with the rise in GST will take the overall rise to 6.5%.

But he is also concerned institutions will raise their student service levies. He says some institutions last year raised their levies by as much as 400– 500 percent.

A spokeswoman for tertiary education minister Steven Joyce told the Manawatu Standard that recently several institutions had made significant increases to student service levies.

“These are to cover things like student health, gyms and the like – but the amounts being charged are in some cases growing dramatically,” she said. “We’ve seen examples of institutions charging things like a building maintenance levy or library services or compulsory charges for internet access. Once upon a time these things were core services.”

She said Mr Joyce was determined to ensure students were getting a fair deal.

“As a first step he’s written to chief executives of tertiary institutions to formally raise the issue and lay out his concerns. He’s also asked for information on the fees institutions charge, and what services they provide for those fees,” she said.

Dr Sharp told the TEU groups that there are likely to be additional quality indicators introduced in the near future. In particular, he would like to see published data on student satisfaction and employment outcomes. However, he conceded that at present these two data sets are hard to measure accurately and fairly.

NZUSA, meanwhile, though cautious on the newly introduced league tables, seemed to support Dr Sharp’s call, with co-president Pene Delaney saying there are significant gaps in the data provided.

“Ranking in this manner doesn’t reflect what students can expect at a tertiary institution, as the numbers don’t demonstrate the whole picture. There is no reference to quality of teaching and learning, or to student satisfaction. The release of this information today should therefore only be considered a first step,” concluded Mr Delaney.

Dr Sharp also told the TEU that TEC is trying to change the way tertiary institutions operate within the capped funding system.

“The TEC’s current focus is on giving students good advice on where they should enrol and what they should do – and supporting them well, whatever that means. That’s what we are trying to get TEOs to focus on.”

Dr Sharp said that the government’s current priority was on younger people, because with them “the return is greater.”  However, he noted, “that does not mean that [older] people cannot upgrade their qualifications or get new skills.”

The same report said that, in terms of a country’s share of universities in the ARWU top 500, once share of the world economy is taken into account then New Zealand ranked first in the world. When taking into account our share of the world’s population, New Zealand ranked eighth in the world.

However, the New Zealand Herald, reporting on a different university ranking system, the QS World University Rankings, notes that New Zealand universities have all dropped places, with the University of Auckland the only one now in the top 100.

QS World University Rankings spokesman John Molony said all New Zealand universities slipped in the rankings because of their faculty-to-student ratio.

“While this has largely been offset with a good result in research performance, it does leave New Zealand’s higher education reputation at risk internationally as institutions and systems around the world increase their investment in academic staff.”

TEU national president, Dr Tom Ryan, says it is interesting that the ministry of education is using New Zealand’s falling staff-student ratio to talk up New Zealand’s performance, while the QS spokesperson points to that same ratio as a reason for New Zealand’s drop on the league table.

“These provide another example of how ranking systems and league tables can be very misleading and open to abuse. Political and other contexts always needs to be part of any such analysis,” says Dr Ryan.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Collective Employment Agreement

Pānui Tauhokohoko #2 ~ 8 September 2010

E ngā māreikura me ngā whatukura o Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa, tēnā anō rā koutou katoa.  He hōnore he korōria, he maungaroa ki te whenua, he whakaaro pai ki ngā tāngata katoa.  Mihia ki ngā mate, haere i te ara tiatia, heketia ngā rangi tūhāhā, haere i te tātai arorangi.  Mihia ki a tatou ngā iwi kua mahue iho nei i a ratou ki te ao tūroa.  Mihia hoki ki te Kīngi Tūheitia, tana hoa rangatira, tona pāpā a Whatumoana, ā, tae atu ki Te Kāhui Ariki whānui.  Pai mārire ki a tātou.

Ngā kaupapa

The kaupapa of bargaining update #2 is to:

1. inform you that your TEU bargaining team[1] commenced negotiations for your new collective employment agreement (CEA) with the employer (Te Wānanga o Aotearoa) on 19 and 20 August in Kirikiriroa;
2. advise you of the respective claims and position at the conclusion of negotiation talks; and
3. get your feedback before 27 September.

Outstanding claims/issues

Te pūtea – when and for how long?

We raised the following three proposals (including a 3 month lead in to salary increases for union members only from 1 October 2010 and we also indicated that we are prepared to consider this as a lump sum across the board):

1. 2.5% increase for a 12 month (from 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011) CEA;
2. 4.0 % increase for a 2 year (from 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2012) CEA; or
3. 2.5% for 2011 and an increase no less than 2.0% based on CPI[2] for 2012.

These increases would apply to personal salaries and all salaries and allowances provided for in the CEA including the minimums in Schedule 2.

The employer is considering these options but rejected our claim for increases to take effect from 1 October 2010 as they saw it as a “union only benefit”.  They offered a 1.2% increase on personal salaries only from 1 January 2011.  This does not entail an increase in salary ranges set out in Schedule 2, any other salary rates, or allowances.  And for the second year the employer affirmed to negotiate only on personal salaries.  They also wish to remove any linkage to Schedule 2 and have the CEA not contain any minimum salaries.  We have rejected these proposals subject to consultation with you our members.

Coverage

The employer wants to exclude some managers (Kaiāko Matua and Kaiārahi Matua [Rohe]) as they see there is a conflict of interest.  We have rejected and will continue to reject this proposal.  It makes no sense to us and we want all, except HR and Senior Managers, covered by the CEA.

Extra duties allowance

We sought an allowance for relief of staff who have been unexpectedly and temporarily absent after 3 days and with no relief staff arrangements.  Staff providing cover shall receive an extra duties allowance until relief is no longer required.  The employer rejected this but is prepared to discuss and put in place policies and procedures to address the problem.  We have indicated that we would consider withdrawing our claims subject to being clear what the policies and procedures are.

Te Reo Māori me ōna tikanga allowance

We claimed recognition of Te Reo Māori me ōna tikanga skills by a minimum allowance of $2000 pa where it is not already built into the salary and position.  The employer has strongly rejected this claim, saying that it’s already recognised in salary and that the Wānanga currently pays a premium to people who have, and are required, to utilise these skills and knowledge.

We persisted with our claim as there are members of ours who are not being recognised for these skills and knowledge.

Withdrawn and agreed claims

In light of the discussion, and with a view to get a settlement, we withdrew our claims (for salary steps, a joint salary review process, tangihanga leave, and redundancy/restructuring enhancements) and agreed to three employer claims that had minor (non substantial) wording and numbering changes.

He aha ō koutou whakaaro?

We would like to know what you think, especially about the union members only claim (point 1 above) and the other 3 points.  What would it take for you to tautoko and vote yes to a ratification settlement?  What is your bottom line in terms of a percentage increase and claims?  What would you take action over (e.g. go on strike to achieve) if it came to the crunch?

If you have any whakaaro or pātai please contact Russell Taylor (russell.taylor@teu.ac.nz / 027 444-2894), Lee Cooper (lee.cooper@teu.ac.nz / 021 533-410), or your hoa mahi on the bargaining team before noon on Monday 27 September.  Please also attend the member meetings being held in rohe where we have larger numbers of members.

What next?

We remain optimistic about progressing negotiations along when we meet again in Pōneke on 28 September at the TEU national office.

We also hope that a hui requested by your TEU President, Dr Tom Ryan, with the Pouhere, Bentham Ohia, goes ahead regarding the bigger picture i.e. reported 1100 EFTS reduction and funding cuts (this hui is not about what we are negotiating in the CEA).

The bargaining team recommends that they be authorised to continue to pursue the claims as outlined, to reject the employer’s proposals not already agreed, and to make a recommendation to settle that reflect, in their judgement, the best deal possible.

Any settlement recommendation will be subject to your discussing, considering, and voting.  Ratification of a settlement will be via e-ballot of each member accompanied by meetings where we can arrange them on campuses where we have larger numbers of members.

E noho ora mai koutou, nā tō koutou rōpū whakahaere kirimana

[2] Consumer Price Index http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_price_index