TEU Annual Report 2013 by Tertiary Education Union

Te U 2013 TERTIARY EDUCATION

UNION ANNUAL

REPORT

TEU - THERE’S A PLACE FOR YOU

TEU Annual Report 2013 Contents National Secretary’s Report

Industrial and Legal Report

Introduction 4

Overall TEU industrial strategy

Governance 5

Institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) 17

National committees

University sector bargaining

National Women’s Committee Te Kahurangi Māreikura

Ngā wānanga

Te Toi Ahurangi

Union only benefit – pass on agreements

Industrial and Professional Committee

Salary increases summary

Personal case trends

Reviews and restructuring

Industrial and Professional Committee Report

Membership 9 Staffing 10 Political activities

Industrial matters

Professional matters

Conclusion 16

Lesley Francey National President Te Tumu Whakarae

Introduction As we head into conference this year, branches and staff are working on submissions to two of the Government’s latest announcements to affect tertiary education; the new Tertiary Education Strategy 2014 – 2019 and the proposal to reduce the size of university and wānanga

in the places where it is most important that we are heard and we will see workloads continue to expand as the international dollar is chased and ineffective funding and management tools like the PBRF continue to be foisted on our members. We have to resist these moves by a government that is not interested in investing in education at any level. We also need to challenge leadership in the sector that seems to be unwilling to stand up for the sector, to defend students’ rights to quality, accessible, affordable education, and to defend the staff who are committed to providing that education. As the union representing all these staff we must provide a platform for them to speak and to be heard. As a direct result of the cutbacks, our membership has seen a small decline this year despite an active focus on recruitment. However we have seen growth in general staff membership in the ITPs, and this area of recruitment remains a priority. As you will see in the industrial report, staff have been continuing to deal with a high number of reviews which have not only resulted in good staff losing jobs, which in turn has increased the workloads of those who remain, but the job losses have also offset the on-going recruitment work of the union.

Sharn Riggs National Secretary

As we head into conference, it is also important to remember that we do have the luxury of having a strong union, we do have the luxury that there is a union to join in our sector that can speak for the profession on professional issues as well as industrial issues. This is where our “voice” sits and where we must maintain and strengthen our right to have a voice. With a government that has an economic and social mind-set that sees jobs as privileges which workers are fortunate to get if they are lucky, we have to keep making the case for workers’ voices in a capitalist system. We should not have to “win” jobs; we should live in a society that ensures that there are decent jobs that are remunerated fairly for all those who want and need them.

councils in line with the changes that were made to ITP councils three years ago. These are the culmination of a number of changes this government has made since last conference. As we all continue to struggle with the on-going effects of the global financial crisis, continued economic mismanagement and yet further attacks on workers’ rights in the form of the most recent proposed amendments to the ERA, it is useful to reflect back on the work that the union has done, the activities that members have participated in and the work that the staff have done in conjunction with committed branch presidents and committees and members.

Increasingly the use of a casual workforce means there are people working at two, three and even four jobs in order to make enough money to live on. We are seeing more and more of this in the tertiary education sector as the survey we ran earlier this year bears out. Precarious jobs, zero-hour contracts and multiple jobs mean that more and more people are living on the edges of the economy. Decent work, job security and a living wage should not be privileges, they must be rights, and TEU and its members must continue to look outwards even when the temptation is to focus only on our own concerns.

The annual report is a snapshot of the year that has been but we cannot go into this conference without looking ahead to what is going to be a critical year for all New Zealanders. Without a change of government in 2014 we will be continuing to deal with policies, economic and social that do not advance goals that TEU stands for. We will see our institutions further transformed into businesses that are managed and governed only as businesses. We will continue to have our voice shut down

Governance

the union, took effect. This was a major piece of work undertaken by council last year and driven by the immediate past-president, Sandra Grey. Those changes have seen the sector groups being replaced by the industrial and professional committee, which now sits alongside the national women’s committee and Te Toi Ahurangi as one of the union’s three national committees. The number of vice-presidents has also reduced from six to three. At this year’s conference we will also see the new numbers for the branch delegations take effect and also the new rule which allows all members from national committees to attend conference in their own right. These rule changes really have seen us move from an amalgamation of two unions into a truly coherent single union that represents the interests of all workers across the whole tertiary education sector.

The council of TEU is the governing body of the union charged with making decisions between conferences. Led by the first TEU national president te tumu whakarae from the ITP sector Lesley Francey, council is made up of the immediate past-president (for one year only) three vice-presidents, Te Kāhui Kaumātua (advisory); two Māori members (Te Tumu Āwhina); one general staff representative ITP sector; one general staff representative university sector; one academic staff representative ITP sector; one academic staff representative university sector; one member from any institution that is not a university or an ITP; a staff member who shall have voice but no vote; the national secretary (advisory); and other paid staff as deemed necessary (advisory).

Another meeting of the union that is now enshrined in our rules as a result of the review of the structures, is an annual meeting of branch presidents. This recognises that branch presidents and branch committees are the backbone of the union and while much of their work is done at branch level it is important that this is done not only within the framework of a national context but that branch presidents are able to share with each other ideas and strategies that have worked in their own branches. This is a critical meeting of the union which allows branches to touch base with each other and also with the work plan and goals of the union.

This year council has met four times, one of those meetings being at Tapu Te Ranga marae in Island Bay in Wellington. Meeting on a marae once a year is part of the council’s commitment and obligation to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, to demonstrate that the Tiriti partnership is a cornerstone of TEU, how it functions as an organisation, and to give effect and practical application to the union rules. This is TEU’s fifth annual council meeting on a marae and our first community marae. The executive committee (a subcommittee of council made up of the three vice-presidents, the immediate past-president, two members elected by council and the president) has met three times this year to advance work during the periods between council meetings and also to work with the national secretary on financial, budget and staffing matters. Another important subcommittee of council is Te Tiriti o Waitangi Partnership Working Group. This important subcommittee is co-chaired by Eric Stone and Bill Rogers.

National committees There are three national committees in the union with responsibility for developing, guiding and overseeing the work programmes of the union as they relate to their respective areas.

At the beginning of 2013 the new rules that the 2012 conference agreed upon regarding the structure of

National Women’s Committee Te Kahurangi Māreikura Cat Pausé was elected women’s vice-president in 2012 to lead the National Women’s Committee, Te Kahurangi Māreikura, for 2013 and 2014. Women re-elected included Alex Sims (UoA), Frances Matheson (VUW), Melanie Lewis (University of Otago), Francie ObergNordt (CPIT), Susan Bennett (Wintec) and Susan Wātene (Unitec) as Māori women’s representative. Members new to the committee were Emma Kelly (AUT) Tracey Morgan (Waikato) and Anne-Marie Brady (UoC).

Level 1 and 2 funding cuts protests, Nov 2012

At its first meeting in February, committee members reviewed and endorsed the guiding principles that set out how the committee expects to work together. The committee also met in June and September.

Plenty, NorthTec, Otago University, Otago Polytechnic, Waikato, Wintec, Victoria University and Massey University. Others are planned for the Auckland region. In each case, workshops were organised as part of a wider recruitment and profile raising exercise. At many institutions all staff were invited to participate regardless of union membership. The union printed posters and distributed bookmarks promoting this work. Suzanne ran a training session for all organisers. Suzanne has been part of a focus group convened by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to review guidelines on bullying and harassment. When these are published they will supplement and support the work TEU has been doing in this area.

In establishing goals and priorities for 2013. The committee considered TEU’s goals, and which particular areas were most relevant for women, as well as taking into account the priorities proposed by women at the 2012 Annual conference. A key feature of the work of the women’s officer, Suzanne McNabb, is supporting and working alongside the committee to implement the goals and priorities of TEU women.

Working Women Branches were encouraged and supported to send women to the CTU women’s biennial conference, Union Women Leading in July. It was excellent to see a strong TEU delegation of committee members, branch women and staff having a high profile at this event. As coconvenor of the CTU women’s council, Suzanne chaired significant sections of the conference and had overall responsibility for the programme. Feedback from TEU women has been extremely positive, many seeing this as a real opportunity to develop leadership skills.

Promotions AUT women held a successful promotions workshop for academic women for the first time this year, led by Emma Kelly and the branch. The University of Canterbury branch also held one after a gap of several years and Wintec held one for the second year . Massey has opted to run workshops again in 2014 after receiving a very positive response at three campuses in 2012.

As with all TEU national committees and branches, the proposed changes to the Employment Relations Act were one of these priorities. Committee members made individual submissions as well as a joint submission and Suzanne, along with policy analyst Jo Scott, spoke to the committee’s submission at the parliamentary select committee. Similarly, the committee carefully considered, discussed and wrote feedback on TEU’s industrial strategy. Committee members viewed this as an important piece of work; highly relevant to women members.

On International Women’s Day, 8 March, Unitec branch held a day-long fiesta after many months of joint planning between TEU, Unitec women’s advisory committee and TIASA. Although numbers were lower than we hoped at some events, both the planning meetings and advertising ensured a TEU had a high profile over several weeks.

After initial discussion determined that the best approach would be to integrate a gender perspective throughout Te Kaupapa Whaioranga, a group of committee members focused on the document and contributed a range of ideas for inclusion.

A network of branch women’s representatives have stayed in touch all year and some have organised local events to celebrate both International Women’s Day and the 120th anniversary of Suffrage Day. Traditional suffrage breakfasts were held at Victoria and Lincoln, a late afternoon event celebrating past heroines at AUT and an information stall at UCOL. WE produced an electronic women’s newsletter to all women members in April. We intend to do a second one before the end of the year.

Bullying and Harassment Promoting positive workplace cultures and preventing bullying and harassment has been an element of TEU’s and the committee’s work over the last couple of years. Workshops for members were identified as a next step and Suzanne has run workshops at Waiariki, Bay of

Paid Parental Leave

composition changes. Structurally the number of meetings decreased from four to three (one at parliament) but the committee numbers increased from 15 to 17 with the six sector group positions being replaced with four general and four academic positions. The composition changes saw new position holders with the elections of James Houkāmau (as Te Tumu Arataki), Margaret Taurere (Tumu Āwhina), Ria Waikerepuru (wānanga representative), Terēhia Newton (general staff), Pareārau Nīkora and Shirley Barnett (academic staff), and Vanessa Kupenga (OTEP representative) was co-opted. Re-elected members included Ngāroma Williams (Tumu Āwhina), Naumai Williams and Tania Loughlin (general staff), Bill Rogers and Miriama Postlethwaite (academic staff), and Susan Wātene (Te Kahurangi Māreikura). The committee has also decided to find a rangatahi representative (under 35 years old at 1 May) to co-opt as a way of engaging with and focusing on rangatahi Māori within TEU.

Continuing the campaign to extend government paid parental leave from the current 14 weeks to 26 weeks is a priority, and a focus of activities for the national women’s committee and TEU members. All women attending the CTU women’s conference received a bundle of postcards to get signed and bring to conference for presentation to MP Sue Moroney, promoter of the Bill. The postcards challenge the government not to use its power of veto to prevent the Bill becoming law. Many members have also signed an electronic card. TEU is an active member of both the Wellington and Auckland paid parental leave coalitions. The committee expects to review its work plan for 2014 and follow up on priorities such as the recruitment of casual employees, domestic violence as a workplace issue and a young women’s network.

As at 30 September 2013, Te Uepū membership increased to 879 or 8.6 percent of all TEU members (up 0.5 percent from September 2012). Of the 879 Te Uepū members wāhine Māori represent 67.0 percent and tāne 33 percent; and by sector ITPs represent 295 members (264 in 2012), universities 388 (394 in 2012), wānanga 137 (104 in 2012), PTE/OTEPs 48 (28 in 2012), and REAPs 11 (9 in 2012). Te Toi Ahurangi is very pleased with the growth of Te Uepū members in successive years as it contributes to progressing the committee’s kotahi mano recruitment strategy to achieve 1,000 Te Uepū members.

Establishing an implementation team at Massey to ensure the Pay and Employment Equity review recommendations were followed up on was an effective model for supporting pay and employment equity. Massey implemented almost all of the recommendations relating to bullying and harassment, and is making good progress in some other areas of the review. Suzanne has worked with organisers and some individual members around issues relating to parental leave, flexible working arrangements and bullying. She continues to provide advice and support for institutional reviews of EEO, equity and diversity and bullying and harassment.

In May, the Kāhui Kaumātua and Te Uepū representatives accompanied TEU council on its fourth annual noho marae meeting to Tapu Te Ranga marae, Island Bay. This year, under Lesley Francey’s leadership Whaea Kāterina Daniels introduced inaugural reo Māori sessions . Similar reo Māori sessions now occur at other national committee meetings such as Te Kahurangi Māreikura and Annual Conference.

Te Toi Ahurangi Te Kāhui Kaumātua have led this committee since its establishment in 2009 . Since TEU amended its rules at the 2012 annual conference the committee has undergone some structural improvements and

The fifth annual national hui (Hui-ā-Motu) of Te Uepū members was held from 22-24 March at the Ōnuku marae, Akaroa. 39 delegates from 18 institutions, including three indigenous representatives from our Australian sister union, NTEU, attended. The hui was very productive and included presentations from local kaumātua, TEU tauheke, president, national secretary, and Te Tumu Arataki; three workshops on the kotahi mano recruitment strategy, industrial bargaining, and Te Kaupapa Whaioranga ; 17 work presentations from each member of Te Toi Ahurangi; a progress report on indigenous work within the NTEU; ten sector workshops on the mahere mahi (work plan) 2013 2014; election of a second Te Tumu Āwhina; academic discussion for those involved in teaching reo Māori. The

Kathleen Erskine-Shaw and Philip Bright

hui also decided that NorthTec would host hui-ā-motu in 2014.

the NTEU indigenous forum and the COPE triennial meeting.

The union’s Te Pou Tuarā Lee Cooper’s work, involves contributing to advancing and safeguarding the rights of Te Uepū members, the union’s responsibilities to wider Māori communities, promotion of and adherence to the Tiriti, and supporting Te Uepū members in achieving their objectives. To achieve this work Lee supports the comprehensive work programme of Te Toi Ahurangi, works closely with the industrial staff, and also participates in external tertiary and Māori-related initiatives. Key to his work is developing and maintaining strategic relationships with various members and non-members, government agencies, MPs and political parties, and international education unions.

Lee has also been heavily involved in bargaining for collective agreements and attending reviews/working parties at Aotearoa and Awanuiārangi wānanga.

Industrial and Professional Committee This is a new national committee set up under the structures that came into force at the beginning of this year. Its brief is to deal with the industrial and professional issues of the membership, develop policy, provide advice and make recommendations to council and/or conference. The committee is led by the industrial and professional vice-president, Sandra Grey with the other members being; the National President, Te Tumu Whakarae; two general staff university representatives; two general staff ITP representatives; two academic staff university representatives; two academic staff ITP representatives; two Māori representatives; two women’s representatives; one wānanga representative; and one REAP/OTEP/PTE/other representative. The committee has met three times this year and also by conference call when the need has arisen. Sector discussions are held at each meeting to allow for the debate of any issues of concern to each sector. The work of the members of this committee is supported by three TEU staff members, Nanette Cormack, deputy secretary, Irena Brorens, national industrial officer and Jo Scott, policy analyst.

His work also involves writing submissions (Ka Hikitia, MoE and Tū Māia E Te Ākonga, TEC) and policies (Tiriti and reo Māori); being a member of the Tū Māia E Te Ākonga (TEC Māori strategy) working group, CTU rūnanga, te manu mātauranga (Ako Aotearoa), rōpū tikanga rangahau (NZCER), blueprint working group, CTU biennial remits committee, CTU residential leadership programme committee, and NZCER TLRI Kaupapa Māori Committee; attending/assisting in organising networks such as the TEU Tangata Pasifika advisory group and rainbow network, AUT and UoA Māori staff network; supporting industrial staff with Te Uepū members’ cases at a number of branches as well as attending branch meetings and developing relationships with sister unions. Lee has also attended a number of conferences this year on behalf of the union including the CTU rūnanga and biennial conferences as well as

As became immediately clear to members of the committee and to the staff, this committee has a very wide brief. They work closely with the other two national committees in developing papers and positions so that by the time any piece of work comes to council it has been thoroughly canvassed by members across the whole spectrum of the union via all three national committees and often through much wider consultation. The committee has advanced two key pieces of work for the union. Conference delegates will be voting on one as a conference remit this year (the industrial strategy) and we will launch the other Te Kaupapa Whaioranga at conference. Both these pieces of work will provide the groundwork for TEU’s policy development and statements during the coming years. Critically Te Kaupapa Whaioranga will provide the basis for our lobbying work leading up to the 2014 election. Going hand in hand with Te Kaupapa Whaioranga is also a research project that council approved last year which will begin shortly. Researchers from AUT University won the tender and they have been working with an

Mary-Liz Broadley Open Polytechnic

Membership

advisory group to develop a survey that will go out to all employees in universities, ITPs and wānanga shortly. What we are seeking is information about the health of the sector, and in particular, more detail about a perceived loss of voice and the advance of managerialism as the prevailing culture. The survey results will be available to us in 2014 and again will provide important information for lobbying both at government level and with the Tertiary Education Commission and the Ministry of Education.

Keeping recruitment as central to all our activities continues to be a priority for TEU members and staff. Across the country, union membership is still in decline and our own membership figures this year reflect that. TEU’s membership and our recruitment processes are central to the work that the union does. Without an engaged membership and without a membership density that allows our voice to be authoritative, the union cannot deliver on the goals and objectives we have set ourselves. This year, for the first time, we made a concerted effort to find out exactly what the strength of that voice is. We established a density project that would allow us to estimate the number of members we have at each branch in relation to the number of staff who could be members of the union. (See the recruitment report on page 21) This information will be useful when delegates come to debate the remit put forward by Victoria University of Wellington branch. We know that the single most critical factor in achieving movement in our bargaining is not how many members we have at a branch but whether or not we represent the majority of the staff at an institution.

The paper Sandra prepared for TEU’s response to the review of the PBRF clearly outlines the harm that PBRF has done in our sector by the to staff and students. As well as the above the IPC worked on the following industrial and professional issues in 2013 – on-going PBRF issues, reviews and redundancies, managerialism, definitions of academic staff and general staff roles including naming and coverage, pay and employment equity and recruitment.

Many branches have run ’blitzes‘ this year where branch committees and organisers from other regions have spent two to three days on campuses signing up new members and making the union visible. We have also had strong membership growth off the back of the “union only” benefits that we are having increasing success in getting agreement to in our bargaining. This process has continued to reinforce the importance of being visible and active as key strategies for recruitment, while recognising that our traditional methods of recruitment are not always as successful as we might like them to be. However we are also recruiting from a shrinking pool. Most branches report that there are fewer and fewer new appointments as employers cutback to accommodate their shrinking budgets. We talk a lot in the union movement about the need to be relevant to young people and to focus our recruitment activities in this area. Interestingly the CTU’s youth group StandUp reported at the CTU biennial conference last month that young people actually join unions at the same rate as older people. We need to make sure that TEU is relevant to all our current and prospective members and I am looking forward to the debate delegates will have around this issue at conference. We need to be continually assessing our approach to recruiting new members into the union. TEU must be a place that speaks for all workers in our institutions and must be seen as the natural and logical organisation to join as soon as a new employee begins work. That means

Glenn Stridiron SIT

Staffing

we cannot rely just on one-off activities to increase our membership and why initiatives like the academic freedom group and the launching of Te Kaupapa Whaioranga are so critical to that voice.

This has been a particularly challenging year for TEU staff as they have faced the continuing problems our members face with the associated problems of a struggling economy and, an underfunded sector and ever-increasing workloads. As will be noted later, the bargaining environment has not been conducive to settlements that have seen any significant gains for our members and decreasing staff numbers sees increasing workloads for our members, which brings with it additional stresses and a rise in such issues as workplace bullying. All these factors affect TEU staff members’ workloads as well.

Recruitment of general/allied staff members in the ITP sector continues to grow and remains an on-going priority as we seek to unionise the significant numbers of non-unionised staff in this sector. As will be seen from the density figures in the recruitment report, our general staff density in the university sector does not match that of academics so we need to work hard to make sure that voice grows and becomes as significant. The figures also show that the number of financial members shows a fall of just under 3 percent between August 2011 and August 2013, while in July we reported the fall at over 4 percent while in May it was 1.6 percent which shows the fluctuations that occur through the year.

TEU has a staff of 34 which includes 12 administration staff, 15 organisers and 7 professional/advisory staff. The staff are located as follows:

As always, within the sectors there are gains and losses. Notable gains within the last 12 months were at Otago Polytechnic, Waiāriki, WITT, both wānanga and AIS. The biggest losses over the last 24 months have been at BoPP, CPIT, Wintec, and the University of Canterbury which reflect our industrial difficulties at those ITP sites and the ongoing effects of the earthquakes in that region.

Dunedin office Christchurch offices Wellington office

Palmerston North office Hamilton office Auckland office

3 staff (1 adminstrator, 2 organisers) 5 staff (1 adminstrator, 4 organisers) 14 staff (6 adminstrators, 2 organisers, 6 professional/advisory) 3 staff (1 adminstrator, 2 organisers) 2 staff (1 adminstrator, 1 organiser) 7 staff (2 adminstrators, 4 organisers, 1 professional advisory)

In previous years I have reported a high degree of stability in the staffing of TEU. However at the beginning of 2013 we were challenged by the unexpected departures of two very able administrators in the national office; Ed Goode left to start up his own business and Susannah Muirhead left to advance her career in a new direction. Both these staff members brought significant skills to the jobs they had and as a consequence left a large gap to be filled. In his role as the IT administrator Ed was influential in setting up the IT processes of TEU and in developing some of the systems that have set us in good stead for the future. Similarly, Susannah took her role and developed it in such a way that the industrial processes of the union were running much more smoothly as were our reporting process. Both these staff brought intelligence and good humour to their jobs and to the national office. Protesting for fair pay at Nelson Marlbourough Institute of Technology

Not long after those resignations we were then faced with the loss of our extremely experienced and capable administration manager, Marian Cadman. Under

Marian’s direction many of the systems and processes that we needed to ensure that TEU functioned smoothly as an organisation were developed. The organisers can only do their jobs effectively if the administration staff in the national office and the five regional offices work as a cohesive team. Under Marian’s leadership this was achieved and she has continued to refine the processes necessary for the union to run efficiently. Sadly for us, Marian decided to begin to ease her way into retirement earlier this year but thankfully she has been fully involved in finding and training not only her replacement but also the new staff we have appointed.

After a lengthy process we have appointed Samantha Stephen to the position of administration manager. This is a role that is critical to our organisation to ensure its smooth running and that there is cohesion between the national office, the regional offices and the branches. The regional administrator position in the Christchurch office, has been taken up by Madison Walker and very shortly the new organiser in our Palmerston North office Heather Warren will take up that position. Heather comes to us with a background of activism in NZEI so will bring energy and dedication to this new role. All these changes have seen additional pressures come to bear on all our staff and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff for stepping in when we were under pressure. I am confident that the coming year will see a return to the stability we have had in the past as new staff settle into their roles and workloads for others return to normal.

Hard on the heels of all of that we then lost our Christchurch office regional administrator Carol Grant who resigned half way through the year to pursue her career in a local law office. Finally, a couple of months ago

Political activities We meet regularly with the tertiary education spokespeople from all the major parties except for the National Party. Stephen Joyce the minister for tertiary education continues to fail to recognise TEU as a significant stakeholder in the sector and does not consult with us. This goes to confirming our view that this government has no interest in the voice of one of the major stakeholders in the sector and therefore justifying our serious concerns about ‘voice’ being shut down. We have regular meetings with the executive director and the president of NZUSA and have continued to work closely with them on issues of concern to students. The impact of the voluntary student membership legislation has made it very difficult for students to continue to have an effective voice. The changes mooted for university and wānanga councils could see them being removed from those forums as they have been in the polytechnics.

Te Huirangi Waikerepuru and Whaea Kātarina Daniels at Hui-ā-Motu, Ōnuku marae, Akaroa

The union has continued to have a significant public profile this year. Lesley Francey has continued the tradition of our two previous presidents in being available to speak on a variety of issues in various media forums. Our three vice-presidents, James Houkāmau, Cat Pausé and Sandra Grey have also played enjoyed a good deal of media exposure this year.

our relatively newly appointed organiser in Palmerston North, Dean Scott concluded that working in the tertiary education sector was not for him and he too left. Because of these resignations additional workloads have fallen on existing staff to cover gaps and to help with inducting and training new staff. As we go into conference this year I am pleased to report that we now have a full complement of staffing in place again. Deborah Stewart and Cassandra Pierce were appointed to the administrator IT and administrator industrial roles early in 2013. They have both picked up their new roles with alacrity and fitted in comfortably with the national office team.

Lesley has also represented TEU at a number of important conferences this year, including the recent Asia/Pacific conference of Education International. She has also spoken at our sister union conferences in Australia.

A significant piece of work in the form of the ’Speak Up for Education‘ campaign has culminated in the development of TEU’s Te Kaupapa Whaioranga ’ and in advancing much of the work in the work plan for TEU for next year and beyond. Sandra Grey’s contribution to shaping and driving this project has been immense. Stephen Day in his role as communications and campaigns officer has continued to build TEU’s communication channels, improving its website so that it is now a widely and regularly read medium attracting thousands of unique visitors each year. The union is continuing to build its use of social media and networking to reach out to members and the tertiary education community in as many ways as possible. A significant piece of work that Stephen has been providing resources and ideas for has been the academic freedom group, Academic Freedom Aotearoa, which was launched last month. This independent group, cochaired by University of Canterbury branch president Jack Heinemann and IPC vice-president Sandra Grey is a watchdog and advocacy group made up of academics from all around New Zealand. The group is committed to protecting and enhancing academic freedom and tertiary education institutions’ autonomous role as the critic and conscience of society. The website for this group is up and running and is already proving to be a useful tool in our campaign to regain and utilise this fundamentally important right.

General Staff Day with Anne Ferrier-Watson and Annie Barker, University of Waikato

for the national office staff through giving feedback to their submissions, as well as being part of the CTU structures. Irena Brorens and Nanette Cormack are active members of the CTU legal group and Jo Scott, our policy analyst works closely with CTU staff on many of their submissions. TEU women’s officer, Suzanne McNabb is one of the co-conveners of the CTU women’s council and Lee Cooper in his role as Te Pou Tuarā provides significant support to the rūnanga as do our kaumātua. At the recent CTU biennial conference TEU voted to support an additional kaumātua being part of the CTU structures as well as better representation of the rūnanga at conference. We are also active in the CTU’s international, state sector and tertiary education committees and networks. At the end of last year TEU also participated in a meeting as part of the CTU that established an agreement between iwi leaders and the trade union movement to support each other on matters of common concern. Lesley and I both represent to TEU on the national affiliates’ council and I am on the governance board of the learning representatives programmes.

TEU has continued to put out regular media statements this year as well as providing regular commentaries and articles to other news media, publications and websites. TEU’s main publication Tertiary Update continues to be read by members and others in the sector and is looked to for its weekly summary of what is going on in the tertiary education sector. As well as blogs and opinion pieces we have put out press releases this year that have ranged from commentary on chief executives’ salary increases, university governance, QS, rankings, the ERA amendments and many more. Many of our press releases are picked up and they in turn generate more discussion with leading journalists and commentators. On the campaigning front, Stephen plays a key role in many of the CTU campaigns that we support but do not necessarily lead ourselves. Notably the asset sales petition was one our members vigorously supported. We have also publicly and financially supported the Living Wage campaign which has gathered significant momentum during the year and we continue to support the CTU’s Fairness at Work activities, and its UnionAID project which Nanette Cormack is very active in.

Industrial matters Deputy secretary, Nanette Cormack and the national industrial officer, Irena Brorens oversee TEU’s significant bargaining agenda and timetable. At any one time there are always collective agreements being negotiated and managed within the framework of our bargaining strategy. (See the industrial report on p17).

We have very active engagement with the CTU in other areas as well. Being part of and supporting the work of the CTU continues to be a priority area of work

This year again saw many of our branches in bargaining with their employers. There is no such thing as a

‘bargaining round’ anymore and the union is engaged in bargaining on an almost constant basis. Nanette and Irena oversee the negotiations across the union and work closely with the organisers and the bargaining teams to ensure that processes are consistent and to give guidance where necessary. Adopting the industrial strategy at this year’s conference will provide a much-needed coherent national approach to bargaining that will lay out the mechanisms for protecting core conditions and the process for the development of new national claims as well as branch claims. Again, council, committees and branches have all discussed this strategy widely and because of that, we are confident that we have a strategy and a process that will lay the foundation for thoughtful and planned bargaining that establishes the rates of pay and the conditions of work necessary for members in our sector to do their jobs.

to fund PTEs on the same basis as the public tertiary education sector brings additional pressure to bear on an already tight financial situation for many tertiary education institutions, although this does not seem to have affected some of the handsome pay increases that employers in the sector have accepted. This year both our wānanga branches have been in bargaining. Te Wānanga o Aotearoa continues to be a challenge, not just because of the existence of another union on site but also because of the approach to bargaining by the employer’s team that sees protracted and drawn-out negotiations with little movement. We are having positive discussions with TUIA however, which may see us take a more coordinated approach to this bargaining in the future. The claims strategy for bargaining in the ITP sector has been to seek a rollover of the current collectives, linked to a two-year term and a modest salary claim with a union benefit claim and where appropriate a Living Wage claim. Most branches are settling with no loss of conditions. We face challenges particularly at CPIT where another union has gained ascendancy in terms of numbers and is threatening to undermine conditions for our members. TEU members have stayed very strong through this process but where a national union is competing with self-interest and an employer keen to deal with a compliant union then it is difficult to make headway.

We are bargaining in an environment that is still affected by the global financial crisis and by this government’s continued attacks on public sector spending. The continuing effects of the Canterbury earthquakes still impacts upon many of our members and staff. While our sector has not been hit as hard by reviews resulting in redundancies and 0 percent pay settlements as the core state sector has, the impact of these policies spills over into our sector. A small number of pay settlements have been below the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which effectively means a pay cut for some members and when employers are also chasing conditions around workload and leave, maintaining the status quo has often been as much as we have been able to achieve.

By the end of this year, we will have seen 18 of our ITP branches in bargaining while in the university sector just four branches have been in negotiations this year. As is now becoming the pattern with the University of Auckland, negotiations are proving difficult but the branch is well organised to take up the claims for which they are fighting. The branch’s successful challenge in the Employment Relations Authority to the employer’s breach of the collective agreement was a vindication of members’ justifiable concerns about the way that the vice-chancellor wanted to change the promotions policy. As this is being written, Lincoln University is preparing to vote on a proposed settlement that, if agreed, will see them with a three year settlement. Again, length of settlement is an issue that members need to debate as we refine our bargaining processes. Negotiations are

CPI (September 2013) is 1.4 percent. This is the first time in over 12 months that it has moved above 1.0 percent. This has implications for us in our bargaining as we a see a number of settlements that use the CPI to determine the pay increase. This is an issue we need to debate. This year we have seen salary increase ranging from 0.5 percent to 2 percent per year. The government’s decision

on-going at AUT for both the academic and allied staff collectives and Massey settled a two-year deal several months ago.

Apart from bargaining, reviews and restructurings account for much of the workloads of our organising staff as well as the myriad of personal cases that are always on the go. Restructuring continues in many branches as employers maintain the state of constant change, which of course does nothing to enhance the quality of teaching and other services provided in our sector. Lincoln members are exhausted from being in a constant state of review with an employer who talks about consultation but then makes unilateral decisions about changes to staffing and structures. While TEU has a rigorous approach to dealing with reviews and ensures that members are involved in the consultation processes at every level, where an employer has scant regard for engaging with staff then these processes can be very damaging for members.

Bargaining in our OTEP, PTE and other branches also continues. Notably some of the best settlements have been in this sector, with NZCER and a number of REAPs achieving 2 percent in their agreements. The push by employers to show productivity gains before they introduce pay increases continues to be the norm. At a time when student numbers are at their maximum and members are reporting significant workload issues as student: staff ratios increase, it is difficult to see where employers can squeeze any more productivity gains.

Many of our branches At any one time we also and individual TEU have a number of legal members wrote cases underway, either to submissions on the do with our bargaining proposed changes or dealing with personal to the Employment cases. Peter Cranney of Relations Act. Across Oakley Moran runs most the country there of our legal cases although was a huge response I should note our own The AUT bargaining team at negotiations to the unfairness of organisers resolve the the changes that the vast majority of the cases government is proposing. Many of the submitters to the members come to us, either before, or at, mediation. parliamentary select committee told emotional stories of Personal cases, many of which are resolved well before their experiences under the current law, let alone what they ever hit the more formal processes of mediation the changes might bring. In terms of our own bargaining, or the Employment Relations Authority are always we will be watching very carefully how our employers on-going. Matters dealt with on a weekly basis by the will be responding to the changes in the duty to conclude organisers include, salary issues such as promotion and bargaining if this amendment goes through with no progression, workload, long-term sick leave/incapacity, change. The bill to Parliament includes this change and fixed term and casual appointments, performance issues others: resulting in warnings or other disciplinary proceedings. There has also been a significant increase in bullying and • allowing employers to opt out of multi-employer incompatibility cases this year. bargaining; •

allowing for partial pay reductions in cases of partial strike action;

•

removing the rule that means that all new workers must be employed on the same terms and conditions as the collective agreement for the first 30 days of their employment;

•

and changes around the disclosure of personal information following Employment Court judgments taken by TEU against Massey University.

Oakley Moran continues to give TEU fantastic service so that when we do need to go down the legal path members always receive expert and thoughtful representation. Peter has dealt with ranged range of issues on our behalf including breaches of natural justice, fixed term issues, changes to job descriptions, application of progression policies, academic freedom, reviews and stress issues. This year there have also been a number of significant disputes and campaigns run by the CTU and other unions that branches have actively supported either by standing on picket lines or by financially supporting those workers taking industrial action.

While the government has called these changes ‘technical’ they are far from that.

Professional matters The voice of the profession generally, and the myriad of professions that make up the work of TEU members continues to be an important priority for the union. While the industrial issues always seem to limit our ability to engage as much as we would like in the professional issues of our sector, the union’s voice on critical matters like PBRF and academic freedom continues to be heard at a national level. Council’s decision to pass policy opposing the continuation of the PBRF was significant after several years of intense debate amongst members. A significant amount of work undertaken this year by our policy analyst Jo Scott, has been writing Te Kaupapa Whaioranga. This work began last year under the guidance of Sandra Grey working with Jo to meet the daunting target of having it ready at conference this year. The draft has been through many iterations and many members and staff have contributed to what is going to be a critical piece of research and a foundation document for TEU. Jo also researches and writes not only our own submissions, but she makes substantial contributions to CTU submissions. National TEU submissions this year have included:

Calling for democratic council representation at the University of Otago

As noted earlier the annual branch presidents’ forum took place in Wellington at the beginning of this year. Feedback from discussions and from those who attended the meeting confirmed that we need to strengthen the links between what was happening at branch level and nationally through branch president and committee engagement in all industrial and organising activities. The 2013 programme saw branch presidents from almost every branch attending, participating and contributing to a comprehensive work programme that included legal and economic briefings and planning the strategic direction of the union’s bargaining. There was also a very strong focus on growing the union.

•

Paid Parental Leave (26 for babies)

•

Review of the Teachers’ Council

•

Employment Relations Act amendments

•

Review of the PBRF model

•

University governance

•

Wānanga governance

•

Education amendment bill (charter schools)

•

Review of CoREs

•

State sector and public finance bill

•

Pike River

Jo has also contributed to and commented on a number of branch submissions in various areas. Last year she consolidated the policies of the two pre-merger unions and this year she did similar work with all the industrial policies that the two original unions had and again this will provide us with a sound platform on which to base all the industrial work that we do. As well as this Jo has been working on updating all of our human resource policies.

competition, where battles for market share determine what qualifications are offered and the modes of delivery. As the lucrative international market begins to dry up with the increasing number of resources being poured into tertiary education in countries like China and India our institutions are looking at modes of delivery like MOOCs as being the solution to holding onto markets such as these. It is time that our arguments around quality; high quality research and high quality teaching, properly resourced and valued, were taken on board.

The policy analyst’s work also involves supporting teacher education and ensuring that this important voice is not lost in the union. An annual meeting of those involved in teacher education is an important platform for the union to be developing and refining its position on teacher education. The review of the Teachers’ Council and the work on opposing charter schools were significant pieces of work of this group as is keeping alive the idea that teacher education is not just about the pedagogy of teaching. Our members struggle to keep this as a priority in the schools and faculties of education across this country. Despite all our efforts however most of the schools and faculties of education have come under pressure this year again, as universities put more value on research than teaching.

Going hand in hand with this attack are the proposed ERA amendments which if passed will take effect in the first half of next year and will mean that once again working people will bear the brunt of right wing ideologues. None of these changes is minor. If passed they will further weight the balance of power to those who already have far too much, increasing even further the gap between the rich and the poor in New Zealand; this is a well-researched and documented indicator of rises in crime, domestic violence, poor health and other social ills. Like TEU, the broader union movement campaigned hard on these changes and will continue to do so on campaigns like the Living Wage and the Save Our Assets. There is no reason why any of the employers in our sector should not be Living Wage employers. There is no reason that we in New Zealand should live in a society where people cannot pay their electricity bills and where an undemocratic government thinks it can sell off the wealth of the country to its rich mates at bargain basement prices.

We meet regularly with staff at Ako Aotearoa to discuss teaching and learning in the sector as well as with sister unions NZEI and PPTA. We made a very considered response to a discussion document Ako Aotearoa circulated on an accreditation scheme for tertiary teachers. That response was clearly effective as this paper has not been progressed. We continue to work alongside NZUSA to support them in their representation of the multitude of issues facing students. The voluntary nature of students’ associations now makes that voice more and more difficult to coordinate. The possible loss of the student voice through proposed changes to university councils is going to be another blow to NZUSA’s ability to have its voice heard in a coherent way. This year under the new rules we also ran our first biennial lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex meeting (LGBTI) hosted at AUT and organised by branch president Julie Douglas. Julie also represents TEU on the CTU’s Out@Work committee. One of the tasks of the group was to rename itself TEU Rainbow, which requires a small rule change that will be voted on at this conference.

The voice of TEU must be loud in all these forums and we cannot allow that voice to diminish in the face of excessive workloads and the acceptance of a management model that cuts across our members’ rights and responsibilities and voice with regard to academic freedom. Te Kaupapa Whaioranga is one of the tools we will use alongside the solidarity and commitment that members and staff have to this union and to ensuring that high quality tertiary education is accessible, available, affordable and a legitimate right and expectation of all citizens.

Conclusion Last year I talked about the continued attacks on democracy and voice in the form of the reduction in representation on ITP councils in order to make them ’more nimble, flexible and responsive in meeting the challenges of the future’.

Sharn Riggs National Secretary November 2013

Now we are facing the reality of similar changes rolling out in the university and wānanga sectors. Four ministerially appointed councillors who in turn appoint their own apparatchiks to four other positions is not the kind of model of governance that leads to sound, democratic and inclusive decision-making. More and more our tertiary institutions are driven solely by

Industrial and Legal Report The union currently negotiates 69 collective agreements (CAs) in the form of multi-union collective agreements (MUCAs) and single employer collective agreements (SECAs).

seek changes that demonstrate productivity gains . This coupled with the EFTS cap and the significant changes in funding for the sector continue to make bargaining in this sector difficult.

During the last 12-month bargaining round, we have been involved in 35 negotiations and have settled 12 collective agreements. Previous ITP and University Sector Group bargaining strategy and recommendations have been guided branches and negotiating teams.

2013 ITP Bargaining The following branches have been or are currently involved in bargaining: Aoraki, Bay of Plenty, CPIT, NMIT, Otago, OPNZ, SIT, UCOL, Unitec, Waiariki, Whitireia, Wintec and Northtec.

Overall TEU industrial strategy

The current bargaining strategy for the ITP sector is to seek two-year terms, with a modest salary increase, union only benefits and where appropriate for allied/ general staff, a Living Wage claim to ensure no collective agreements have rates less than $18.40 per hour or $32,000 per annum.

With the creation of the Industrial and Professional Committee (IPC) under the new rules, one of the main areas of work has been the development of the proposed TEU-wide industrial strategy. This strategy will set out a process for the development of new national claims, and records previously developed national claims, which we will ask local bargaining teams to include where appropriate, in their log of claims, as well as any branch claims. The strategy also sets out a process to protect agreed core conditions of employment that cannot be reduced during bargaining, to ensure that we maintain as much as possible, consistency of terms and conditions with similar collective agreements across the sector. We will present, discuss and vote upon the industrial strategy during this conference.

Our strategy with allied staff bargaining is to initiate bargaining when we are legally able to and when we have sufficient allied staff members at a branch. This is due to occur at MIT this year. We already have agreements that cover allied staff at UCOL, Otago and Aoraki.

Settlement of the collective agreements and salary increases Most of the ITP settlements have been for two-year terms with an increase in each year. The salary increases for the 2013 settlements have been between 0.5percent and 2.0 percent.

Institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs)

University sector bargaining

The sector continues to feel the effects of This year the ITP bargaining has the cuts in funding by the government. not been as difficult as in past years Additionally, earthquakes significantly John Davey . However, we are due to start nine affected the University of Canterbury Aoraki Polytechnic collective agreement negotiations and Lincoln University, both in terms of as we write this report, and it will be the drops in student numbers and the interesting to see if the employers huge costs associated with remediation of take such an aggressive line on attacking our conditions the campuses. Other universities are also undertaking as they did last time . The employers in the ITP sector earthquake strengthening which is adding to the funding continue to cite the State Services Commission (SSC) pressures. This has meant we have faced similar difficulty Bargaining Parameters document, which requires around achieving acceptable pay increases as we did employers in the tertiary sector to consult with the in 2012. The unrelenting level of change proposals in SSC over their bargaining strategy and any proposed the sector, combined with the increasing workload settlement . The main purpose of the parameters has pressures for all staff, means that members are feeling been to encourage salary restraint, limit any back pay and very vulnerable and at many institutions see the priority

Ngā wānanga

as settling a collective agreement with the best conditions they can, rather than fighting over salary increases.

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa

An interesting development this year has been the offer of an extra week’s annual leave by the employer to general staff and tutors at Lincoln, bringing them to the equivalent of six weeks annual leave and bringing them in line with academic staff at the university. Several years ago, all members at the University of Canterbury moved to the equivalent of six weeks annual leave. As all other institutions have the equivalent of five weeks annual leave this may be an area to consider when developing national claims for the sector.

At Te Wānanga o Aotearoa the collective settled in August with a salary increase of 0.5percent plus an increase in the training and course fees up to $3,200 This was consistent with the TUIA (in-house union) collective agreement. Initiation has occurred for the renewal of the 2013 to 2014 collective agreement and member meetings and claims development is underway. TEU has sought a meeting with TUIA to ensure that we work collectively in this bargaining round.

2013 University Bargaining

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi

Universities involved in bargaining for both their academic staff and general staff collective agreements this year were University of Auckland, AUT, Massey University and Lincoln University. •

•

This is a Multi Union Collective Agreement with TIASA, and the settlement was 2.0 percent for a one-year term and a six-month union only deal. Bargaining is due to start there again shortly.

AUT: Academic collective – still in bargaining at time of writing this report: the current employer offer is 1.5 percent from 1/1/2014 and 1.5 percent from 1/1/2015 and a 10-week union benefit in each year.

Rural Education Activities Programme (REAP) Eastbay and Central Plateau REAPs achieved good settlements for a two year term with a salary increase of 2.0 percent for both 2013 and 2014.

AUT TEU/TIASA allied staff collective - still bargaining at time of writing this report: the employer has offered 1.5 percent from 1/1/2014 and 1.5 percent from 1/1/2015. Our allied membership has grown from 11 to 46 since TEU achieved this new collective two years ago.

Other Tertiary Education Providers (OTEPs)

Massey: Settled: A two-year term: 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent; six-week union only benefit in each year; and a joint taskforce to investigate academic workloads.

We currently have 14 collective agreements in private training establishments, as well as at Te Tari Puna o Aotearoa - The New Zealand Childcare Association, which is described by legislation now as an ‘other tertiary education provider’ (OTEP). Of note in this year’s bargaining in this area are the following settlements:

Lincoln: still in bargaining at time of writing this report; offer going to members for ratification; three year deal, CPI in each year; four week union benefit in first year; extra week of annual leave for general staff and tutors which will match academic staff. University of Auckland: still in bargaining at time of writing this report. No offer from the employer on pay.

•

AIS settled for an 18 month term with 1.75 percent 2013 and 1.0 percent 2014

•

NZCER achieved a two-year settlement of 2.0 percent per year.

In some cases, the collective agreements have not renewed because the PTEs have closed down, or we no longer have members at the work sites.

The salary increases for the 2012/2013 settlements have been between 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent

TEU’s aim for these members is to provide the protections and benefits that only a union can provide. However, this has been an increasingly difficult task in the private sector and the current TEU policy is that we do not actively recruit or initiate any new collective

Employment Relations Amendment Bill

agreements unless there is 50 percent of the staff in the union.

Union only benefit – pass on agreements

The government has introduced the Employment Relations Amendment Bill. If passed, this will see major changes to the bargaining and employment law framework. TEU members all over the country made submissions and attended the select committee hearings.

Even though many employers will not agree to uniononly benefits, TEU continues to achieve settlements that do include them. This means that union members receive the benefits of pay increases earlier than non-members do. This is in recognition of the fact that union members work and pay for the improvements to the collective agreement. Employers usually pass on those benefits on to non-members who have not contributed to the bargaining process. We have achieved union only benefits at AIS, AUT, Awanuiārangi, Lincoln and Massey this year. The union-only benefit periods have ranged from two weeks to ten weeks. These deals do have a positive impact on recruitment in these branches.

The key changes that will affect the bargaining environment are:

Removing the duty to conclude bargaining for a collective agreement Currently there is a duty of good faith to conclude a collective agreement unless there is ‘a genuine reason, based on reasonable grounds, not to’. The current provisions say that a genuine reason does not include opposition to, or objection in principle to collective bargaining or being a party to a collective agreement. This change will mean that an employer could simply say ‘we do not agree with collective bargaining’ or ‘we don’t agree with concluding a collective agreement unless we achieve changes to the collective agreement’. If the employer seeks a determination from the Employment Relations Authority that the bargaining has concluded and this is granted then the impact of this is that all members covered by that collective agreement will be deemed to be on an individual agreement based on the collective agreement. However, there will be no rights to initiate for a new collective for 60 days.

Salary increases summary Salary increases across all sectors have ranged from 0.5percent to 2.0 percent per year. The CPI has been the lowest it has been for more than 10 years. During 2013, the March year to date figure was 0.7 percent and the June year to date rose to 0.9 percent. However, the September year to date figure has risen to 1.4 percent. The Labour Cost Index for September reported that in the public sector, those employees who have had wages/salary increase had an average increase of 1.5 percent1.

Remove the protection for new employees in the first 30 days of employment where there is an applicable collective agreement

The annual Victoria University Industrial Relations Centre statistics reported that the average annualised increase in the year to June 2013 was 2.1 percent compared with 2.2 percent in 2012. However, in the core public service for employees covered by collective agreements the average was 1.6 percent2.

Currently new staff members must be offered the terms of the collective agreement at the start of their employment, unless they immediately join the union. Removing this will lead to an undermining of the collective agreements and new staff being employed on the employer-drafted individual agreements that will probably have terms and conditions that the employer could not achieve in the collective bargaining process with the union.

Consensus forecasts published by NZIER The consensus forecasts published in September 2013. March year

CPI

1 2

2013/2014 percent change 1.7 percent

2014/2015 percent change 2.2 percent

2015/2016 percent change 2.6 percent

Allow deductions from pay in a partial strike and requiring all unions to give notice of strike action

Council of Trade Unions Economic Bulletin Sept 2013 page 8 Industrial Relations Centre: Employment Agreements & Employment Law Update 2012/13 page 37

Under the current law, the employer does not have

the ability to make This will have a serious impact on any salary or wages the bargaining environment that deduction on a partial the Industrial and Professional basis. They do have Committee will need to consider the ability to suspend when planning for bargaining or lock employees over the next few years, even if out completely. This there is a change of government change will mean that after the 2014 election. employers will be able to deduct for partial strike action such as lightning strikes of short duration, not attending meetings, The number of personal cases or working outside continues to be a large part of Submitting on the Employment Relations Amendment Bill the normal hours of Victoria University of Wellington the organisers’ workloads and, work, or not returning as the data indicates below, there marks, for example is a constant stream of cases. (which TEU has successfully undertaken in the past). The table below shows the numbers from February to The government intends to give employers the power to September for 2012 to 2013. deduct a proportionate amount of the pay for the period that any strike action occurs. Often members have asked that TEU share the successful outcomes from the casework, but this is difficult to Under the current law, only essential services are required provide, as usually these are confidential settlements. to give notice of strike action. This does not apply to the

Personal case trends

majority of TEU members. This change will now require TEU to provide our employers with notice of when the strike action will occur and when it will end, who will be involved and what the location will be for each strike.

Council receives a report on the numbers and trends in the personal cases. One of our aims is to start tracking trends on the types of cases and provide information on specific branch trends; this is a work in progress.

Give the employer the ability to initiate collective bargaining at the same time as the union initiation

Below are some of the trends we are starting to see in the types of personal cases:

Fixed Term appointments:

These changes all aim to undermine collective bargaining further. It is possible that the Bill will return to the House for its second reading within the next month and, if it is passed without any amendments, it could be enacted from 1 April 2014.

•

Issues around ‘genuine reasons’ and noncompliance with s66 of the Employment Relations Act. Increase in number of members who have had their positions converted to permanent ones.

•

Claims for severance at the end of the appointments.

Personal Cases 2012/2013 February March

April

May

June

July

August

September

181 61 33

189 61 46

137 29 34

157 44 28

158 31 31

210 72 43

162 34 35

132 37 11

175 34 22

186 56 36

150 39 19

174 52 16

192 38 21

193 47 27

Personal Cases 2012 Personal Cases New Cases Resolved Cases

172 65 56

Personal Cases 2013 Personal Cases New Cases Resolved Cases

136 45 21

Process issues following reviews/ restructuring:

Performance/warnings/disciplinary/ dismissal: •

Inappropriate use of emails

•

Performance issues regards research and/or PBRF outcomes

•

Performance management reviews

•

Confirmation procedures

Reviews and restructuring There continues to be a consistent demand on organisers’ and branch committees’ time dealing with reviews and restructuring. Over the last 10 months at the highest point there were 54 reviews undertaken at the same time affecting over 450 members. There have been 157 confirmed redundancies in this period. TEU works hard to ensure that these reviews are managed in a truly consultative way, result in the need for genuine redundancies only, and that there is a fair and transparent selection process. However, there has been an increased use of legal challenges, in recent reviews, to ensure that employers comply with the provisions in the relevant collective agreements and the provisions of the Employment Relations Act and recent case law in redundancy dismissals.

Workload: •

Excess workloads

•

Changes in duties

•

Cuts in hours of work

•

Long-term sick leave

Complaints: •

Outcomes for individuals, mainly about notice periods, redeployment, selection process, severance payments or whether or not the outcomes have been a genuine redundancy.

Increased numbers of cases around bullying or harassment. Some have led to the employers requiring independent medical advice and claims of incapacity.

Reviews/Restructuring 2012-2013 February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

500

155

300

271

300

280

580

500

400

500

335

200

250

150

Reviews 2012 Number of Reviews Total Number Affected

Reviews 2013 Number of Reviews Total Number Affected

Wear Red Day at Waiariki Polytechnic

The table below shows a monthly comparison from 2012 to 2013. Note that the number of reviews has reduced, as the 2012 round of reviews saw large numbers of members made redundant across the sector. Despite this the employers are continuing with the constant demands for restructuring and reviews that have a significant impact on our members who find themselves in the scope of any review/restructuring and the devastating impact on our members, who are made redundant. In addition, in many cases the workload increases for the members who retain their positions. TEU national office is now reporting to council on the areas that are under review and where reviews are being undertaken, so organisers and branch presidents can share information and submissions.

Lincoln University

Massey University Unitec

MIT

Legal report as September 2013

Issue

University of Auckland University of Canterbury University of Otago Waikato University AUT

Breach of agreement

Consultation – organisational change proposal Complaints/bullying/stress/ incapacity Severance payments

Conclusion As well as the constant case load for organisers and branch officials, one of the major tasks for branch committees, organisers and elected officials in TEU is the bargaining process. It is always a great recruitment and organising opportunity that takes a lot of preparation and commitment from the members of the bargaining teams. We want to thank all of the members, elected officials and staff who have been involved in the bargaining over the last year.

The TEU retains a pre-eminent employment lawyer, Peter Cranney from Oakley Moran who works with the union staff dealing with legal cases. The table below reports on those cases. It is important to note that our organisers are dealing with many other cases that are regularly settled without the need for legal recourse.

Institution

Redundancy Selection- comparable work Consultation – organisational change proposal Trades staff – nonpayment for earthquake and snow days – breach of CA Dismissal/redundancy payments

Irena Brorens Nanette Cormack National Industrial Officer Deputy Secretary

Consultation – organisational change proposal fixed term Continuation

ackground At the 2012 conference the following recommendations were adopted:

Academic freedom Redeployment/redundancy Long term illness/incapacity Fixed term appointment payments Leave payments

That the TEU establishes a further $75,000 fund for recruitment activity in 2013 to be administered by national office.

Terehia Newton and Te Huirangi Waikerepuru

Industrial and Professional Committee Report Introduction

There is no doubt that their hard-work, guidance, and knowledge has been invaluable to the IPC.

2013 saw the first year of operation for the revised TEU structures and a single committee looking at all industrial and professional issues (following the merging of the General Staff, ITP, and University Sector Groups). It was a very engaged, vibrant, and dynamic working group with an amazing breadth of knowledge and experiences to bring to the important professional and industrial discussions held at our three meetings this year, in a number of online conversations, and a number of teleconferences. While it took a couple of meetings to get to know each other (we were a mix of old-hands and new), by the final meeting we had a very sound working relationship and are pleased we can capitalise on the collegiality and developing friendship in 2014, now that all national positions are held for two years.

So what have tackled and achieved this year, and how does that fit in with the work-plan set at the 2012 conference?

2013 conversations, critiques, policy papers, and actions The reflection of our conversations perhaps can be gleaned from the tag-cloud drawn out of the reports to council, our meeting notes and action points, the documents we drafted and redrafted, the email conversations, and the feedback provided during consultation on key issues. It is hoped the tag-cloud contains within it issues and ideas that members across the country feel are key industrial and professional issues.

The IPC is comprised of representatives from the many parts of our sector (the members are listed at the bottom of this report), and this allowed some insight into issues facing the diverse range of staff who work across the tertiary education sector and who are represented by the TEU. Each of our experiences from our own places of work helped inform debate, but along with the information brought to the committee room by staff, we were able to think strategically about not only how issues affect the many parts of our sector but also what was the most crucial as a nationwide representative union. As well as bringing our expertise into debates about strategic professional and industrial issues facing TEU members, the group felt the IPC meetings were a place of collaborative learning.

Critiques, consultations, and commentaries completed

It was not all hard-work, there was plenty of laughter and conversations, particularly over shared meals (cheese puffs seem to bring the best out in us all). And we had to survive our fair share of storms (which prevented members getting to meetings) and earthquakes (which saw Sandra, Irena, and Nanette working from under the tables in the TEU tearoom in order to prepare for the September IPC meeting). All we needed to complete the cycle of storms and earthquakes was something like a plague of aardvarks.

There were a number of issues which we cast our critical eye over and took action on. The IPC is a positive and supportive group, but confess that they are prepared to “crush” some of the ludicrous and punitive performance management proposals in our sector. Members are clear in their mind that education is not a business, not something that should be manipulated using performance management incentives and punishments, and that decisions in our sector should always be made thinking about what is best for quality teaching, learning, and research.

On behalf of the committee, I want to thank all the staff of the TEU for their tremendous work in advancing the industrial and professional issues of members, but in particular to thank the wonderful staff who support and provide advice to the IPC – Irena, Jo, and Nanette.

tOne of the issues that the IPC members ran their

critical eye over and provided feedback on was a research project into a proposal to set up tertiary teacher accreditation. The passion for our profession came through very clearly on this issue, with major concerns held by the IPC members about how a proposed “voluntary accreditation scheme” would soon become a mandatory burden for already busy staff. IPC members are supportive of moves to improve the quality of teaching and learning in our institutions, and feel the greatest inhibitor to this has been the withdrawal of adequate support for up skilling, training, and even time for reflection on teaching practice which plagues all parts of the tertiary education sector.

government agencies on issues which impact upon the professional and industrial lives of TEU members, then IPC members can take active roles in critiquing the policies and actions proposed.

TEU policies and processes worked on Our major work during 2013 was to continue to advance progress on a union-wide industrial strategy. We are pleased that Council has endorsed the work done by the IPC, in conjunction with Te Toi Ahurangi and the National Women’s Committee. The paper being presented to conference is the culmination of over two years work by various committees of the union. IPC members have always supported the intent of bringing together a strategy which provides support to bargaining teams and a coherent strategy. The IPC also took considerable time during its first two meetings to debate, discuss, and document how the committee would run. A new committee structure always takes time to settle, but it is important to actively debate the various roles and processes needed to ensure a smooth running of a committee. The role and purpose document developed is found on the website.

TEU Industrial and Professional Committee

The IPC was also involved in providing advice and information for the TEU’s response to the Performance Based Research Fund (PBRF). We held rigorous debates about the value of performance measures. Most IPC members felt that the PBRF and any similar measures imposed for teaching performance create undue pressure on staff without real returns in terms of the equality of teaching, learning, and research in our institutions. In fact, the overemphasis on research, particularly in universities, due to the PBRF has had a negative impact on teaching, in particular for those areas where practicebased teaching is crucial.

Initial planning for 2014 As was noted earlier, national representatives on the IPC now sit for a two year term – this means the last meeting of 2013 was used to revisit the goals set by members and what the IPC members would begin work on in 2014. We of course eagerly await conference decision to see how the industrial strategy will be implemented and are ready to take a leadership role in this nationally.

We held discussions about the anti-work and antiunion proposals found in the Employment Relations Amendment Bill presented to parliament earlier this year. Sandra and Irena developed a kit which outlined the major changes to the Employment Relations Act and the ways the changes would impact upon workers in our sector and more broadly. IPC members used this kit to make written and oral submissions to the Select Committee on this legislation. In future public issues we propose to do the same, to ensure that where consultation is sought by the government and

We plan to put our minds to the difficult issue of naming in the sector and coverage clauses. While many would question whether it matters ‘what’s in a name’, the use of terms like general staff, professional and allied staff, academic staff, and so on, have implications for members across the sector. We have three unfilled positions on the IPC that we would like to see filled, they are an additional women’s representative and one general representatives from both

the ITP and University sectors. And in 2014 we will begin the process of developing skills in members who might be keen to take up the role of VP Industrial and Professional as Sandra is stepping down from this role at the end of 2014. We are going to hold some serious discussions and debates about institutional racism, and what we as a union can do in this area. There are however many more issues that the IPC could take on. But we want to leave some room in our agenda for things that arise during 2014. It is not easy to balance our workload and ensure we are acting both proactively and leaving room to react to the urgent issues that crop up in the tertiary education sector. We plan to use the 2013 conference to speak with and debate with members from across the sector what is crucial to them! It is important collaboratively build on our national goals, our union-wide workplan, and to collectively make a difference to the lives of members by working with Te Toi Ahurangi, the National Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Committee and Council.

Suffrage Day celebrations at UCOL

We look forward the challenges that 2014 bring.