Victoria Branch Newsletter – 16 Nov 2015 In this issue TEU National Conference 2015...........................................................................................................2 I want to see you be brave....................................................................................................................2 Big presence at conference for Living Wage campaigners..................................................................2 Te Tiriti o Waitangi: “Facebook, Honour and the Future”...................................................................3 Privatisation of education: TAFEs in Australia....................................................................................4 Workshops: insecure work, and union membership.............................................................................4 Pasifika delegates.................................................................................................................................5 Union in Song.......................................................................................................................................5 Living Wage for Vic end of year event — you’re invited!...................................................................6 Draft VUW Research Strategy.............................................................................................................6 Proposal to change the term “General Staff” to “Professional Staff”..................................................7 Trimester three......................................................................................................................................7 The year in review: branch president’s AGM report 2015...................................................................8 The year in review: the Living Wage campaign.................................................................................10 University Council: TEU hosts ‘meet the candidates’ forum.............................................................12 ED Insider: thoughts on Victoria’s 2014 Annual Report....................................................................13 Productivity Commission to review tertiary education......................................................................13 Cuts and privatisation at Unitec.........................................................................................................14 More cuts … and mergers..................................................................................................................15 Nationwide day of action against the TPPA.......................................................................................15 Climate march....................................................................................................................................17 Shorts..................................................................................................................................................18 Why join the union? Convince your colleagues!...............................................................................18 TEU contacts @ Vic and collective agreements.................................................................................20
Diary Fri 27 Nov
Feedback due on term “professional staff”: contacthr@vuw.ac.nz
Sat 28 Nov
Climate March, Civic Square, 1pm–3pm
Fri 4 Dec
Feedback due with catherine.galuszka@vuw.ac.nz on draft research strategy
Thurs 10 Dec
Living Wage for Vic end of year event 5pm–7pm, Milk & Honey, please rsvp to: dayna.kosega@teu.ac.nz
TEU National Conference 2015 The TEU held its national conference at the Brentwood Hotel in Kilbirnie on 9 and 10 November. The conference theme (see the TEU annual report) was mārohirohi: to be brave, strong, resolute, determined and tenacious. The conference symbol of mangōpare (hammerhead shark) is a Maori symbol of strength and courage. Like union members, mangōpare unite in large schools.
Below you will find a summary of events and reflections from some of the Victoria delegates.
I want to see you be brave Wayne Linklater (Victoria branch co-president) – Ten represented Victoria’s Branch at the Tertiary Education Union’s national conference last week. We greeted arriving delegates with our Living Wage campaign – motivating staff and alumni to add signatures to postcards and letters calling for Victoria to be New Zealand’s first Living Wage university. A stirring opening address from President Sandra Grey nicely encapsulated the challenges and victories of the year and impressed a theme upon the conference ‘Say what you want to say… I want to see you be brave,” in the words of Sara Bareilles’ recent hit song. We joined 80 other delegates representing all but one of New Zealand’s 33 TEU branches. Fortysix of the delegates were ‘first-timers’ to the conference – the union is in strong heart. Frances Matheson (Victoria branch co-president) – We had a great group of delegates at conference. We took part in leading three workshops and ran a Living Wage post card blitz. For me, it was great to have more than just one or two others with me for the third year in a row. I had a great time catching up with members from other parts of NZ, seeing what they were up to, what wins there were, and where people need support. We got great feedback from members who attended our workshops and have made some new friends along the way. I have come out of conference with a group of fired up members who are ready to be brave and to speak up on matters of importance to our branch and sector. That is all I can ask of a conference. Thank you to the delegate team for all their hard work, both at and before conference. Let the hard work begin again.
Big presence at conference for Living Wage campaigners Lyndy McIntyre, Living Wage Wellington Living Wage for Vic campaigners were out in force at the TEU national conference on 9 and 10 November. Conference delegates from the Vic Branch set up a postcard stall beside the registration desk and collected about 100 signed postcards supporting the campaign. Delegates then led a Living Wage workshop, sharing the story of how the Living Wage for Vic campaign has grown in visibility and support during 2015. In short personal stories, delegates Frances Matheson, Sarah Proctor-Thomson, Kenton Leenders and Katy Miller shared how they have been able to participate by collecting signatures, speaking at campaign events and representing the TEU at monthly campaign meetings. The common message was: “Every action by a TEU member, big or small, makes our campaign stronger!” www.livingwage.org.nz
2
Teresia Teaiwa’s conference highlights: VUW’s Living Wage Campaign Workshop on Day 1. I loaded up all my teaching in Tri 1 so I could take RSL in July, so haven’t been able to participate in this at all, and was thoroughly impressed with what I learned about our branch’s strategy and activities over the year. Such an awesome campaign! Thanks to everyone for their initiative, energy and creativity with this and with Vic Voices! So proud to be a member of this branch. Can’t wait to get amongst it when I’m back on board in 2016!
Te Tiriti o Waitangi: “Facebook, Honour and the Future” The first guest speaker at the conference was Moana Jackson, renowned lawyer of Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngāti Porou descent specialising in Treaty of Waitangi and constitutional issues. The TEU had commissioned a “tiriti audit report” from Jackson to assess the way Te Tiriti o Waitangi was being implemented in the policies and practices of the union, as required in its constitution. Jackson is a superb speaker, quietly spoken yet powerful and engaging. A key theme of his talk was “relationship” and equality between treaty partners. He argued that Te Tiriti and treaty rights were not just the preserve of Māori, but that others had equal responsibility in upholding them. “Te Tiriti”, in the words of his report, “is not just a Māori thing or even a Māori/Government thing but a blueprint for a relationship between all peoples”. Rather than summarising the content of his report, Jackson provided us with some context. His talk was wide ranging. From Facebook and the abuse of women (the concern of all, he argued, and not just women) he moved to the refusal of his hapū to sign the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 (after the Crown refused to deal with the hapū’s female rangatira), to an 1877 court decision that the treaty was a “simple nullity” having been signed by “primitive barbarians”, to the oft-derided struggles of indigenous peoples for recognition of their rights, to the 1982 United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, to an extraordinary karakia by indigenous peoples at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which, after decades of struggle, was adopted by the UN in 2007 (though it only found NZ’s support in 2010). He left to standing ovation. Moana Jackson’s audit makes a range of recommendations. He calls on the union to: • undertake an analysis of TEU policy documents and discuss the merits of replacing or amending such terms as “treaty partnership” • introduce a Tiriti education programme and investigate how union issues fit within a treaty framework • explore constitutional reform to advance the Tiriti relationship in a meaningful way. Teresia’s highlights: Moana Jackson’s talk, “Facebook, Honour and the Future” on Day 1. As always, a spellbinding and thought-provoking speaker. Having completed an audit of TEU’s Treaty Partnership work, he reminded us that the word treaty comes from the Latin “tractare”, which means to seek a relationship. Moana described the situation with Māori and the Treaty as similar to that of women and domestic violence, and basically challenged all of us to step up to the work that needs to be done on both issues. He suggested that the language of ‘partnership’ allows for inequality between partners, while the legal basis of entering into a Treaty rests on a fundamental recognition of the equality of its signatories. Ultimately, Moana advocates changing our terms from Treaty Partnership to Treaty Relationship. Emma Kelly: Moana Jackson’s talk on the audit of the union via Te Tiriti was extraordinary, and I will remember it forever! My only regret was that Lee Cooper wasn’t there to hear it, given the work and effort he’s put into this – I send my aroha to him. I was also thrilled to be there for Dr Huirangi Waikerepuru’s award. He’s an absolute legend and a taonga to us all. Nga mihi nui ki a koutou. 3
Privatisation of education: TAFEs in Australia There were a couple of conference presentations about the state of education in Australia. Grahame McCulloch explained new prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s neoliberal approach and said he was a worry for unions. Pat Forward talked about the privatisation of technical and further education (TAFE). Government funding for the TAFE sector has been cut, while that same funding has also been opened up to private for-profit providers. Forward had some shocking stats. 80% of for-profit providers are 90% reliant on government funding. With virtually no limit on fees providers can charge, some charge $40,000. And they make 30c on the dollar in profit. But from 2009–12, 79% of students failed to graduate, and it’s been a similar story since. Despite the huge sums they receive, for-profit providers deliver sub-standard courses. The Queensland Minister for Training and Skills Yvette D’Ath even acknowledges that “this is a multi-billion dollar industry that receives government subsidies, and unfortunately that makes it particularly attractive to shonks looking to make a quick buck. … Consumers need to take extra steps to protect themselves from unethical practices that could leave them with a substantial debt for a course they can’t complete or that doesn’t help them to get a job.” Extraordinary! Beware privatisation agendas in NZ. As other conference speakers said, the NZ government likes “austerity budgets”, Steven Joyce seems intent on privatising bit by bit, and our university vice chancellors fail to speak up against the austerity model in education. http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2015/8/31/do-your-homework-on-training-providers
Workshops: insecure work, and union membership Gwyn Williams The were numerous conference workshops – Treaty of Waitangi, Rainbow, pay and conditions, equity and more – and you couldn’t go to all. But a couple that I attended provided highlights for me. One addressed the casualisation of employment and increasing use of fixed-term contracts. Unless there are (in the words of the Employment Relations Act) “genuine reasons” for casual and fixed-term positions, we need to challenge our institutions to make staff permanent. Emma Kelly: Kia ora koutou – For me it was great to be welcomed to conference despite the fact that I’m between contracts. I was so pleased that there is a growing awareness and emphasis on the plight of many casual and fixed-term employees of universities. The workshop on this issue was wonderful and it was excellent to hear how some branch presidents and their teams have decided to tackle this issue, either caseby-case or with groups of employees.
The second workshop explored ways of getting people to join the union. TEU membership is in gradual decline (1.3% over the last year), with membership numbers dropping from 10,648 in 2010 to 9,806 this year. Universities show the biggest decline, with only the Victoria and Otago branches of the TEU increasing their membership over the last couple of years (across the sector, wānanga have had the biggest increases). Vic has increased TEU membership by about 6% over the last year to bring the total to 904. 62% of VUW academics are TEU members, and 31% of general staff. Membership numbers matter. If less than 50% of staff are union members, employers are inclined to dismiss unions on the basis that they don’t represent the interests of the majority of employees. So how to increase the number of members? Discussing that was the point of the workshop. Kenton Leenders gave a great talk on how Vic has approached things. Vic actually hasn’t had a big membership drive, but we seem to have done well on the back of other campaigns – especially the Living Wage – which have raised the union’s profile. Otherwise, the key thing is simply talking to people. The biggest reason people give for not joining the union is that ‘nobody asked me’. So talk to your non-union colleagues. Near the end of this newsletter you’ll find a bunch of reasons to join the union that you can run by people. And there is also a TEU Recruitment Kit. 4
Pasifika delegates Teresia Teaiwa Lunch with the other Pasifika TEU delegates to conference on Day 2 was a highlight for me. The first time I attended conference in 2013, there were only two Pasifika TEU members in attendance, me and my mate from Canterbury. This year, there were five of us: two from Auckland, one from UC, one from CPIT, and myself. We had a good catchup over lunch, and we’re looking forward to the biennial Pasifika talanoa in 2016. I also got a prize on Day 1 for spinning the gender pay equity wheel, landing on a blank space, choosing National MP Dr Parmjeet Parmar, and writing her a letter in my own words, urging her to vote for gender pay equity. My prize was a lovely pack of Cottage Garden Mix Seeds! Best prize I have ever won – looking forward to getting some soil underneath my fingernails and seeing the flowers bloom before summer is over!
Union in Song The conference was spiced with song. There was a conference song book, and every speech was followed by a Māori waiata, a union song, even Twisted Sister’s We’re not going to take it. “Waiata”, as Lee Cooper wrote in the TEU song book, “are an essential part of Māori culture. The words and expressions preserve the wisdom and knowledge of the ancestors. … Waiata are often performed at the end of mihi or whaikōrero (speeches) to support what has been said.”
Another Teresia conference highlight: Waiata. This is part of TEU putting our commitment to a Treaty relationship (as per Moana Jackson) into action. It’s not just something “fun” to do to break up the monotony of speakers. It builds familiarity and competence in te reo and tikanga. And it’s about ways of knowing, ways of being and ways of doing that all of us who live in Aotearoa New Zealand have a responsibility to nurture.
Sandra Grey: “Songs of protest have been part of major social movements for decades. Songs unify individuals in a collective voice; they provide history lessons; and connect movements to the broader society in which they operate.” Music also “has an intrinsic power to propagate a message. And the message of the union movement is clearly found in the songs of the movement”. Sandra was passionate about song. In no time she has us all accompanying a video of Sara Bareilles singing Brave. And over dinner, she was up on stage playing guitar and singing songs of protest. Links to a few of the songs: • • • • • • •
5
Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi (Wiremu Te Tau Huata) Whakarongo ki te Reo Māori (Ngoi Pewhairangi) Tū Kotahi (Kahu Tapiata and Whaea Mere) and E Rere te Manu Brave (Sara Bareilles) We’re Not Going to Take It (Twisted Sister) There Is Power in a Union (Billy Bragg) Lean On Me (Bill Withers)
Living Wage for Vic end of year event — you’re invited! Last December we celebrated the launch of the Living Wage for Vic campaign at Milk & Honey. This year, we’re going back to Milk & Honey to celebrate a great year and a campaign which is uniting the Victoria University community around the call for the Living Wage. TEU is hosting this event and all members are welcome to join supporters from across Victoria University and from the wider community. Thursday 10 December, 5-7pm Milk & Honey, beside the Hub, Kelburn campus Please rsvp to: dayna.kosega@teu.ac.nz
Draft VUW Research Strategy The draft 2015–2020 University Research Strategy has been released. The research strategy, as Professor Kate McGrath explains, expands on the the University Strategic Plan and “defines the partnership between Victoria’s scholars and the University”. The strategy has two “primary research goals”: to dramatically increase recognition for the quality and quantity of its research; and to deliver significant impact to end users. These goals are to be realised by building on our PBRF status, building a distinctive academic emphasis, achieving scale, increasing research funding, delivering high-demand postgrad research programmes, deepening research networks, enriching end-user engagement, and improving infrastructure. Staff have a clear role to play. A couple of passages from the strategy ... Intended Outcomes The focus of this strategy is to: •
dramatically increase Victoria’s national and international recognition for the quality and quantity of its research and researchers, including its postgraduate research students; and
•
deliver significant impact through its research activities to a broad range of stakeholder communities and end users; and
•
through these maintain and enhance Victoria’s current status as New Zealand’s most research intensive university, as reflected in its position as the first-ranked university for average quality score under the PBRF, and increase and diversify its external research funding.
The Role of Victoria’s Academic Staff At the heart of this Research Strategy is Victoria’s community of scholars and other key support staff. … The university’s expectation is that each of its scholars will undertake independent research, scholarship and/or creative activities appropriate to their discipline and in doing so will: I. supervise research students, individually or in collaboration with colleagues; II. broadly disseminate (and protect) research results (not just one medium, or one audience), including through their teaching practices; III. actively seek financial support for research activities from external sources (including for example traditional government funding, industry partnerships and contracts, philanthropic gifts, research translation or commercialisation opportunities); IV. be active within appropriate professional and discipline communities; and V. contribute to the research environment and culture of Victoria including for example mentoring. Download the draft strategy
6
A few questions The draft strategy prompted a few questions and worries at a recent meet-the-candidates forum with the seven academics standing for election to the University Council. Is the strategy driven by commercial and ‘entrepreneurial’ imperatives? Does it advance a model suited to certain scientific disciplines and ignore the needs of the humanities? The strategy places considerable emphasis on increasing external research funding and engaging in entrepreneurial activity. But is it the responsibility of academics to “actively seek” financial support for their research? Or should the university be lobbying government and fighting to be better resourced, so that academics can get on with doing research rather than spending long hours applying for grants with low chances of success? What are the consequences for the university if we are to engage in the “active recruitment of staff with demonstrable experience, to: obtain competitive and non-competitive government funding; obtain commercial … and philanthropic funding”? If the university begins “aligning research with external funding opportunities”, will those disciplines with insufficient money-earning potential suffer? The strategy, it must be noted, does say that the aim of such an approach is to ensure that the university’s “own resources can be preserved to support excellence in research even where the research area is not directly aligned with the priorities of external funders”. Feedback The strategy is a draft and is open for consultation. Your submission can make a difference. Please send feedback to catherine.galuszka@vuw.ac.nz by Friday 4 December 2015.
Proposal to change the term “General Staff” to “Professional Staff” The Senior Leadership Team is proposing to introduce the term “professional staff” in “recognition of the quality of General Staff and the contribution they make to the achievement of the objectives in the Strategic Plan” and the “essential” role they play in the “efficient functioning of Victoria”. “The General Staff”, the proposal says, “are called upon to: • continuously innovate, improve and adapt as new and exciting initiatives are pursued; • be professional in dealing with staff, students, parents, Government, iwi, community groups and all other external stakeholders; • undertake professional development and keep up-to-date in their areas of professional expertise; and • uphold the reputation of Victoria through the way they undertake their work.” You can provide comments on this proposal to contacthr@vuw.ac.nz by 5pm on Friday 27 November 2015.
Trimester three A proposal for a 12-week third trimester – not supported by our TEU Branch – was defeated at Academic Board in September. Academics and students overwhelmingly criticised the proposal as being poorly considered, ad hoc and so creating more problems than it solved. Chief amongst concerns was that it would halve Trimester 2’s interim break to one week. Stealing a week from Trimester 2 to extend Trimester 3 – borrowing time from Peter to pay Paul – seemed an odd change to most.
7
The year in review: branch president’s AGM report 2015 28nd September 2015 First I would like to start with a thank you to our branch organizer Nicki Wilford and Dayna Kosega – our hard working Jack of all trades and Living Wage Victoria secretary. A big thank you to Lyndy McIntyre, our Living Wage campaign organiser, who has made great in-roads on gathering support for Victoria to become the first Living Wage University in New Zealand There are some people that have stood out this year for me and I would like to give them special thanks. They are: Wayne Linklater who has been my co-president or VP; Katy Miller who has survived two year as Treasurer; and Dougal McNeill for doing a great job as Branch Secretary and Living Wage campaigner. Katy also put her hat in the ring for Nominations Panel of the Victoria University of Wellington Council – thank you.
Frances and Katy Our hard working rep team have been doing great work with their members; thank you all for your time and efforts. In particular, Pine Southon, who took up one of the Maori Rep roles mid-Tri 1, has been amazing and helped out a lot with staff at Te Herenga Marae, and provided support for members at the Karori campus as they move to Kelburn. Phoebe Smith has done the youth proud and helped with starting a group for the Living Wage at the Te Aro campus. Phoebe, I think, got the most signatures for our council petition and took on being a rainbow rep too. Tu Williams took on the role of rainbow rep with Phoebe and got posters up around the Kelburn campus at critical times. This is the first year we have had a full team of reps and it has made a difference. We have had a number of members serve on University Committees. Those members did an outstanding job behind the scenes for the wider membership. So it is timely to say thank you for their time and effort on these committees. Stand outs are Kenton Leenders as our general staff rep for his work with the H&S committee on policy changes, with support from Clare Moleta, and Dolores Janiewski for her work on council and helping to get some movement in the outcomes. 8
A big thank you to the branch committee. Here, Clare Moleta stood out for me with her help on the submission on extending teaching hours and the great submission that she put forward on her own. The other is Gwyn Williams – our editor for the newsletter. The newsletter has been a great vehicle for getting reports out to members and general information. It has been a full on year and I feel we, as a committee, have done well. Once again thank you all for your hard work. The last thank you goes to all those members who signed petitions, got people to sign petitions, had the conversations with people around the issues, got people to do submissions, attended forums, did their own submissions, attended workshops, participated in the surveys, put up posters, signed postcards, lobbied University council/committee members, etc. Now on to other things. Joint activities Living Wage themed general staff lunch – we had members from the Services and Food Workers Union come to this annual event. This year we had Living Wage events nearly every month, from a postcardsigning blitz at the hub to lunches at a campus. For more look at the Lyndy’s Living Wage report below. We have had and are having joint activities with students, i.e. VUWSA, around the Living Wage and around governance and the university. We as a branch have put in submissions and have helped others to do the same. We are still working on governance and the university. The presidents of the different student bodies have been invited to all branch meetings and wider events such as General Staff Day. We have formulated a sponsorship policy and have set aside funds for this. This year we sponsored the PGSA general staff award, the university staff dragon boat team, a staff golf tournament, Living Wage events. We also funded workshops for members on promotions, bullying and harassment, and six PDCP workshops. Recruitment Having no recruiter this year has not led to a downturn in recruitment numbers. We have, in fact, grown. This is due to better visibility on campus throughout the Living Wage campaign, council campaign and workshops. A small amount of growth is due to slightly fewer retirements, redundancies, etc. We have 914 members at the time of this report (it is not the end of the year) compared to the end of last year where we had 891 members. Workshops The Bullying and Harassment Workshop and Women’s Promotions Workshop were well attended with good feedback on their worth from those who came. This year we tried out PDCP workshops, our first two being in January: one for academic staff and one for general staff. We were overwhelmed by the response from general staff so that we ran another four workshops, three in August and one at the request of the Maori rep in September. These were run by TEU members: Wayne Linklater heads up the Academic team with Fiona Hutton and Annemarie Jutel; I head up the General Staff team with Katy Miller, Des Kelly and Pine Southon. From the first PSCP workshop we got a lot of feedback that we thought needed to go to HR. We put forward a letter with our findings and some suggestion on how PDCP could be improved. This led to a bit of a back handed reply, which we have been working on through other avenues, such as our regular HR meetings. From the following workshops we put forward another letter to HR. Other This year has been full on with the work around University Council staff representation and how staff are appointed to the new council. This was brought on by a law change which changed the size of university councils down to twelve members, four of which are government appointments. Victoria was the only university to go through a public consultation. We, as a branch, engaged with this process by putting forward a submission at each phase of consultation, encouraging you, our members, to do your own submissions, to undertake the survey, lobby council members. We organised a petition on democratic elections and the need for staff and student voices to be on council, did poster blitzes, etc. 9
We achieved a win with two students and two current academic staff members to be elected on to council. What we did not get was a general staff voice directly on council. The compromise is a general staff member on the nominations panel of council, to be picked by the council governance committee. For those of us with H & S as part of our jobs, the new OHS regulations, FM’s ongoing review, earthquake strengthening and building construction have meant a higher workload. We need to try to balance student and research needs in amongst the changes. Some issues have also had an impact on other staff, with timetable reviews, less teaching space to use, questions about moving/not moving, etc. There has been an ongoing need for support from branch members and the organizer. The Karori campus is on the move to Kelburn. This has been stressful for the staff, particularly at the start as there were all sorts of rumours. We had a series of meetings with the people tasked to look at the move. We then got the two parties together and looked at what was what with members. We have been keeping in touch with them and providing support. This year we have written submissions on proposed changes to teaching hours, Karori’s move to Kelburn, H&S policy changes, Trimester 2 &3 changes, and two submissions on the changes to council. Along with two letters to HR with feedback from the PDCP workshops. Each submission is a large piece of work in its own right. I would like to thank Wayne, Katy, Des, Clare, Nicki, Dayna, Pine, Sandra and the national office team who have all helped out with these. In summary It has been a year of high workloads and big changes. We as a branch committee are still finding it hard to get face-to-face time and have had to do a lot of work by email. This has led to a number of things nearly filling through the cracks. The committee has also been unable to action some of our plans/projects in a timely manner or to start them at all. Having said all that, overall I think the branch is doing well given the current environment here at Vic. Thank you all for your support. Yours in unity Frances Matheson, President
The year in review: the Living Wage campaign Lyndy McIntyre’s AGM report Lyndy McIntyre is a community organiser with Living Wage Wellington. Her work is to support community organisations to get active in the Living Wage campaign. Lyndy has been funded by the Victoria branch and TEU National Office since February this year, for one day a week, building support amongst the members and the wider Victoria University community for our Living Wage campaign. Last year in bargaining, the TEU negotiation team put up a claim for the ‘Living Wage’ to be the minimum rate in our collective agreements. We think all our members are worth at least that. Although many universities in the UK are Living Wage employers, including prestigious unis like Oxford and the London School of Economics, the concept is new here in NZ, and towards the end of last year a campaign for Vic to be the first Living Wage university in NZ started to gain momentum. Everywhere around the world where the Living Wage has been won, it has been the result of all the diverse groups that make up the university community uniting to build a strong voice calling for the Living Wage. The Vic campaign is bringing together students, academics, general staff, cleaners, retired academics, faith groups and alumni, because working together we are stronger. We kicked off the year with a living wage theme for General Staff Day and the launch of our postcard competition – won by the IT department. The postcard calls for a Living Wage for all the university workforce, including low paid library workers, cleaners and tutors. In April, VUWSA’s first event for the year was a Living Wage forum. VUWSA has given the campaign for Vic to become a Living Wage university strong support. 10
May: A campaign group met regularly to plan how to build support for the campaign. Meetings are open to anyone in the university community who supports the campaign.
June: We had the first of our awareness-raising events at the Te Aro campus. Two TEU members (an academic and library staff member) joined a cleaner and a student leader to talk about the need for the Living Wage and encourage people to get active. Around 40 staff and students came along, listened, asked questions and chatted over lunch. We plan to hold Living Wage lunches at all the campusues. In late July, a TEU group of Frances, Nicki and Lyndy met with the VC and HR. Becoming new Zealand’s first Living Wage university is a big step. The VC was generally supportive, but this is just the start of the conversation. He hasn’t got his Living Wage lapel badge on yet! August: We know that our campaign will only be successful if we raise the awareness of everyone in the university community and increase active involvement in the campaign. So, in August, TEU members and staff, students, cleaners and supporters blitzed the Kelburn campus and collected 600 postcards in two hours. The postcard blitz enabled us to have dozens of conversations and collects hundreds of contact details to build our database of future supporters. Now we have over 1000 postcards. In late August, Lyndy and Nicki had a follow up meeting with HR, where Lyndy made a presentation on Living Wage universities overseas, how the Living Wage fits with Victoria’s Strategic Plan and how the Living Wage rate was set and updated. This is another step along the way in the process of Victoria becoming a Living Wage university. A milestone in this process could be success in next year’s collective agreement negotiations. But to win our campaign we need commitment from across the university community, starting with TEU members. Every action you take helps make our campaign stronger. Here’s some things you can do. 1. Like our Facebook page. This step is easy! We’ve got nearly 400 likes. Let’s double or triple this. Like the FB page and share with your FB friends. 2. Sign a postcard and get your colleagues signed up ASAP. This step is pretty easy too! There is strong support for the Living Wage across the university community. 3. Start coming to monthly campaign meetings. We want more TEU activists at our monthly meeting. Your contribution would be great and we want campaign hubs in every campus! 4. Follow the leaders and back the campaign! If every TEU member takes every opportunity to back the campaign and campaign actions and events, we can win! Wear your badge! Talk with your colleagues. And look out for Living Wage activities. 11
University Council: TEU hosts ‘meet the candidates’ forum All seven academic staff standing for the academic staff positions on Council faced questions from voters at two meetings organised by the Victoria branch of the TEU. Candidates answered questions about equity, issues relevant to general staff, why they were standing for Council, what they thought about challenges facing Victoria, and how they see Victoria’s future. Soft toy animal ‘ammunition’ was available to meeting attendees as a means of expressing displeasure with speakers, but happily, none were fired in anger. The voting deadline was particularly tight, with little more than a week between the candidates being announced and voting closing, so the meetings were a good way for candidates to air their views. We nearly lost democratically elected staff positions on Victoria’s council this year, so it’s particularly important to engage with elections and share your views with the elected Council members. The two successful candidates will be our voice on Council and it was a pleasure to hear from seven very able and engaged candidates. Thanks to all who attended, and to the candidates: Zhiyue Bo, Maryanne Garry, Kate Hunter, Jim Johnston, Carwyn Jones, Jim McAloon, and Marc Aurel Schnabel. And if anyone would like to adopt a soft toy animal, please see Frances Matheson. Katy Miller
The Nominations Panel that will oversee the appointment and election of Council members from 2016: Professor Grant Guilford – Vice-Chancellor; Associate Professor Nicola Nelson – Academic Board nominee; Madeleine Ashton Martin – VUWSA nominee; Miriama Evans – Te Aka Matua Committee nominee; Madeleine Setchell – General Staff nominee; Dr Di McCarthy – External member; Dr Helen Anderson – External member.
12
ED Insider: thoughts on Victoria’s 2014 Annual Report The view from ED Insider, www.edinsider.co.nz, based on the Victoria University of Wellington 2014 annual report. Victoria University of Wellington set ambitious long-term targets for growth in 2014, but even with their optimistic 1.5% annual growth rate, it would take them until 2053 to get there. Our Take • Victoria’s new strategic plan aims for nearly doubling EFTS to 30,000 EFTS, achieving it by sustained EFTS growth of 1.5% pa. That would take them until 2053, but even 1.5% growth might be challenging for Victoria, for which the highest annual growth in 2010-14 was 0.4%. • While Victoria’s external research income jumped by 35% from 2013, it was only 8% above 2012 levels, demonstrating the volatility of income streams highly reliant on competitive grant rounds. Victoria had a very good Marsden funding round in 2014, but it will need to repeat that, and achieve good results in MBIE and HRC funding rounds, if it is to meet its ambitious goals. • Victoria continues to have about a 14% gap between course completions for all SAC funded students (86.3%) and Pasifika students (71.9%). That hasn’t changed much over the years regardless of various strategies and initiatives. This year they failed to meet a 75.7% target, using the excuse that it was “aspirational” (p.50). It may have been, but it was Victoria that set the aspiration and failed to meet it. • As with other universities like Massey, Victoria is reporting less information on student makeup than in previous years. There is no data on enrolments by subject or level of study, for example. International student EFTS dropped 7%, but Victoria said there was higher growth in first-year enrolments, which should support future pipeline growth. Domestic enrolments were up 1%, but the share of school leavers outside the Wellington region dropped from 64% to 60%, which might signal tougher competition. Key Stats • EFTS 16,901, +46 (0.3%). International -6.7% and domestic +1.0%. • Income $380.6m income, up $22.7m (6.3%) • Expenses $364.1m expenditure, up $23.8m (7.0%) • Surplus $16.5m surplus (4.3% of income) • Current Assets/Current Liabilities 107% (was 106% in 2013) • Audit Unmodified • EFTS/Academic FTE Ratio This went from 19.6:1 in 2013 to 18.2:1 in 2014. Dave Guerin, CEO / Education Strategist Education Directions Ltd
Productivity Commission to review tertiary education Finance Minister Bill English and Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce have asked the Productivity Commission to review tertiary education. In a press release on 3 November, the two ministers said the commission will identify potential barriers to innovation. “We have asked the Productivity Commission to consider how changes, in technology, costs, and internationalisation, might change the way we fund, organise and deliver tertiary education and training in the future,” says English. For Joyce, “Tertiary education contributes to improving New Zealand’s economic outcomes by giving students the skills and qualifications to get good jobs, and to be part of an innovative and successful New Zealand.”
13
TEU sceptical TEU national president Sandra Grey is warning that the biggest barrier to innovation in tertiary education is the government’s unnecessary counting and measuring of outputs, and its focus on economic outcomes. People working in public tertiary education are already creative and innovative. We need the government to remove all the penny-pinching managerialism and bureaucratic reporting mechanisms. Fund us properly then step back and let us do our job.
Grey says the commission’s terms of reference focus too heavily on external influences on tertiary education – new technology, international issues, employer pressures, and demographics – while ignoring internal issues like pedagogy and creating an environment that supports high-quality teaching, learning, and research. “Education’s purpose is not productivity, it is opportunity,” says Grey. “The government would do better to get an Equality of Opportunity Commission to run its ruler over our tertiary education system.” http://teu.ac.nz/2015/11/productivity-commission-investigate/ VC welcomes the review In Victoria News on 9 November, Vice-Chancellor Grant Guilford said Victoria’s strategic focus parallels the current Tertiary Education Strategy, with a university-wide commitment to building strong links with industry, its communities and the global economy. “In a fast-changing sector, it is crucial that we continue to understand and adopt international best practice and be What is the Productivity Commission? nimble enough to take advantage of The New Zealand Productivity Commission is an independent new and emerging models of tertiary crown entity whose principal purpose is “to provide advice to the education.” Government on improving productivity in a way that is directed to Review timetable The commission will start its inquiry by releasing an issues paper with a list of key questions, available in February 2016. It will seek submissions and give a final report to government in February 2017.
supporting the overall well-being of New Zealanders, having regard to a wide range of communities of interest and population groups in New Zealand society.” The commission was established in 2011 following a 2008 confidence and supply agreement between the National Party and the Act Party. The National-led government agreed to “explore the concept of a New Zealand Productivity Commission”.
Cuts and privatisation at Unitec The country’s largest polytechnic, Auckland’s Unitec, announced on 8 November that it is axing jobs in student services and contracting them out to a private multinational called Concentrix. It will also put more than 100 academic management positions on the line as part of a $250 million redesign in which faculties and departments will be replaced by eight “networks” aligned with industry sectors. 300 jobs are set to go in the next three years. Unitec chief executive Rick Ede claims the changes will give students more flexible study options and make them more employable. The restructure is “timely” given the government’s recent announcement that the Productivity Commission would conduct a review of tertiary education and how it should be delivered and funded. TEU’s Unitec branch president Sid Aksoy says Unitec’s managers have not listened to any of the over 100 submissions proposing solutions that did not involve job cuts or taking away student support. Aksoy worries that more privatisation could be coming. Concentrix will set up a call centre to replace Unitec’s current student support workers. It is currently advertising multiple casual and temporary jobs for a Mt Albert-based client. 14
National TEU president Sandra Grey said the only way Concentrix could do the job cheaper was by using a casualised workforce. “So basically they’re going to turn really good jobs employing very good people holding those positions into very casual, zero-hours type contracts.” Union of Students’ Associations president Rory McCourt said, “It’s going to mean that student services are privatised – they’re going to be put into the hands of a private company to make profit off the students.” If things go wrong, the students will suffer. Unitec staff were planning a rally last Friday to protest the cuts. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/289067/unitec-shake-up-'risky-gamble',-critics-say http://teu.ac.nz/2015/11/teu-meets-unitec/ http://teu.ac.nz/2015/11/unitec-friday-protest/
More cuts … and mergers AgResearch cuts Former AgResearch scientist Doug Edmeades said the recent redundancies highlighted the instability of the current science funding system where decisions appeared to be based on the political mood of the day. Government funding of agricultural research had dropped from $140 million in 1990 to about $40 million. But Steven Joyce claims there has been no decline in government science funding and that the government’s investment in science has risen by more than 70 per cent in the past seven years. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/agribusiness/72505436/No-decline-in-Government-fundingfor-science-Joyce-claims Mergers Steven Joyce announced last week that Aoraki Polytechnic will merge with Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT). Sandra Grey believes the merger looks like a rushed takeover, while National student president Rory McCourt says the merger is just shuffling deckchairs in a chronically underfunded sector. http://teu.ac.nz/2015/11/canterbury-polytechnic/ http://teu.ac.nz/2015/09/small-classes-merger/ There are also plans to merge Waiāriki and Bay of Plenty polytechnics: http://teu.ac.nz/2015/09/opposition-waiariki-merger/
Nationwide day of action against the TPPA The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) text has been released – all 30,000 pages – but the deal hasn’t been signed, and the fight continues. The TPPA was negotiated in secret and is approaching ratification without any meaningful public consultation. There is no democratic accountability, and significant worries that the agreement privileges the interests of multinational corporations over those of ordinary people. On Saturday 14 November, rallies were held across the country. In Wellington, protesters marched from Midland Park to parliament. http://itsourfuture.org.nz/what-is-the-tppa/ http://www.realchoice.nz/ Court finds minister Tim Groser acted unlawfully when he kept information about the TPPA secret
15
16
Climate march In early December, governments from all around the world will gather in Paris at a meeting called COP21 to make a fresh commitment to addressing climate change. At the end of November, the week before the Paris Climate talks, climate marches will take place in hundreds of cities all around the world, with the goal of creating the largest ever mobilisation on climate change. People will come together for many reasons – for climate justice and a safe climate; for renewable energy and jobs in the transition to the clean economy; to care for people and protect nature. Our part – create the biggest climate march New Zealand has ever seen... March in Wellington: Civic Square, Saturday 28 November, 1pm–3pm Pledge to march: http://www.peoplesclimatemarch.org.nz/pledge?splash=1 http://www.peoplesclimatemarch.org.nz/
17
Shorts Otago University considering wide-reaching general staff job cuts: http://teu.ac.nz/2015/10/otagogeneral-staff/ University of Auckland to resume pay negotiations after a fair pay rally marched to the VC’s office: http://teu.ac.nz/2015/10/auckland-talks-pay/ From 2017, all universities, wānanga, polytechnics and publicly-funded private training establishments will need to publish information about the employment status and earnings of their graduates: http://teu.ac.nz/2015/09/employment-outcomes-published/ ; http://teu.ac.nz/2015/10/students-outcomereports/ Healthcare staff stretched to breaking point – Understaffed. Exhausted. Overworked. That’s how people who work in our public healthcare system describe their experience. Government budget cuts are causing this crisis. Find out more and sign the petition to save our public healthcare
Why join the union? Convince your colleagues! In 2016, the TEU will enter into a bargaining round with Victoria over the collective agreement. The stronger the union, the better our bargaining position. But how can you explain the benefits of union membership to your colleagues? Here are some ideas. Better pay. Staff in unionised workplaces earn more than those in non-unionised workplaces. 46 percent of New Zealand workers did not get a pay rise last year, but 98 percent of union members did. Year-in-year-out the TEU succeeds at negotiating pay rises better than inflation. Member benefits. Join the TEU and benefit from discounts on travel and accommodation, insurance, financial services, adventure sports, magazines, books, computers and more. http://teu.ac.nz/join/member-benefits/ Better work conditions. Union-negotiated comprehensive collective employment agreements cover appointment, progression, hours of work, professional development, health and safety, leave, redundancy and more. Thanks to the TEU, workers in universities, institutes of technology and polytechnics have significantly better leave entitlements than New Zealand minimums. Gender equality. Women’s average wages are significantly lower than those of men. The TEU campaigns to bring women’s pay and employment conditions into line with those of their male counterparts. Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The TEU is committed to Te Tiriti, which, as its constitution states, “shall be implemented in the policies and practices of the union”. Public-good education. The TEU campaigns for public ownership and control of our tertiary education system. If fights for a well-funded, quality education system that is collegially governed and that benefits all New Zealanders. Empowerment. There’s power in a union. Organised workplaces, with a high density of union membership, have power to achieve the goals of their members. Solidarity. Even if you are happy with your own pay and work conditions, joining the union will help support the claims of others to fair pay and conditions. Union membership helps to make possible such things as the Living Wage campaign. Our aim for 2016: to make Victoria NZ’s first Living Wage university. http://teu.ac.nz/join/top-reasons-to-join-teu/
And if that’s not enough … 18
19
TEU contacts @ Vic and collective agreements Read Victoria’s collective employment agreements: http://teu.ac.nz/branches/universities/victoria/ Branch committee, 2015-16 Position Branch organiser Branch administrator Branch President/Co-President VP President/ Co-President Secretary Treasurer Living wage campaigner Newsletter editor Women’s Representative Women’s Representative Maori Representative Maori Representative Te Uepu Representative Pasifika Representative Pasifika Representative Academic Staff Representative Academic Staff Representative General Staff Representative General Staff Representative Young Workers Representative Young Workers Representative Rainbow Representative Rainbow Representative Committee members Committee members Committee members
Name Nicki Wilford Dayna Kosega Frances Matheson (G) Wayne Linklater (A) Dougal McNeill (A) Katy Miller (G) Lyndy McIntyre Gwyn Williams (G) Clare Moleta (G) Megan Naylor (G) Pine Southon (G) Kathy Samuel (G) One of the above Teresia Teaiwa (A)
Email Nicki.wilford@teu.ac.nz Dayna.kosega@teu.ac.nz Frances.matheson@vuw.ac.nz Wayne.linklater@vuw.ac.nz Dougal.mcneill@vuw.ac.nz Katy.miller@vuw.ac.nz Lyndy.mcintyre@livingwage.org.nz Gwyn.williams@vuw.ac.nz Clare.moleta@vuw.ac.nz Megan.Naylor@vuw.ac.nz Pine.southon@vuw.ac.nz Kathy.samuel@vuw.ac.nz Maori Reps Teresia.teaiwa@vuw.ac.nz
Fiona Hutton (A)
Fiona.hutton@vuw.ac.nz
Kenton Leenders (G) Katy Miller (G)
Kenton.leenders@vuw.ac.nz Katy.miller@vuw.ac.nz
Tu Williams (G) Joshua James (G) Des Kelly (G) Alex Potanin (A) Sarah Proctor-Thomson (A)
Tu.Williams@vuw.ac.nz Joshua.James@vuw.ac.nz Des.kelly@vuw.ac.nz Alex.potanin@vuw.ac.nz Sarah.proctor-Thomson@vuw.ac.nz
This is the last branch newsletter for 2015. I’d just like to thank all who have contributed over the last year. Hope to be back again in 2016. Probably in March. Articles, poems, letters, opinions, commentaries, suggestions, photos, cartoons … all very welcome. Send contributions to gwyn.williams@vuw.ac.nz This newsletter was produced using open-source software (no support from Apple or Microsoft) Font: Liberation
20