teu branch reports 2012

TERTIARY EDUCATION UNIONBRANCH REPORTS 2012

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ContentsContents

AIS St Helens 4

Aoraki Polytechnic 5

AUT 8

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi 11

Bay of Plenty Polytechnic 12

CPIT 13

EIT 14

Lincoln University 16

Massey University 18

Manukau Institute of Technology 21

NMIT 22

NorthTec 24

Otago Polytechnic 26

University of Otago 27

SIT 31

Tai Poutini Polytechnic 32

Open Polytechnic of New Zealand 36

Te Wānanga o Aotearoa 37

University of Auckland 40

Victoria University of Wellington 44

The University of Waikato 47

Weltec 50

Whitireia NZ 51

Wintec 53


AIS St Helens1 October 2012

Key issues faced by the branch

We still have the same issues facing the Branch as has been outlined in previous reports – workload issues for some academic staff and non-members enjoying the fruits of sacrifices made by members.

Branch activities and meetings

We recently concluded bargaining for a new collective. Management appear to be constrained by current low student numbers, and for this reason we were unable to secure an across the board pay rise for members. However, we were able to get a one-off cash payment for members, thanks to some clever lateral thinking on the part of our TEU Rep Chan.

Last week we had our AGM. Because of varying teaching/lecturing schedules, it has always been next to impossible to get all members to come to a branch event.

Significant upcoming dates and events for the branch

I have been canvassing the members to see of anyone wants to accompany me to Conference next month.

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Aoraki Polytechnic20 September 2012.

The Branch has been kept busy this past year, with major membership problems with and dissatisfaction with management practices, primarily the many forms of bullying, and various stonewalling techniques when trying to reach a satisfactory resolution for members. Main problems are with an out of touch management, which has been unwilling to communicate with staff. TEU Branch Aoraki Polytechnic has been working with Regional Officer, Kris Smith, to get compliance to the CA from the executive management of this institution.

Because of problems with management here, the Branch and the Regional Officer spend a great deal of time dealing with issues for individuals. With the ongoing and intensive work of Kris Smith, the Branch members feel that progress continues to be made against a management that has shown itself determined to undermine the Branch and the members’ conditions and pay.

The Branch is very grateful to Sandra Grey as National President and to Sharn Riggs, National Secretary, for attending crucial meetings of the Branch with Executive management and at the facilitated mediation.

Irena Brorens, National Industrial Officer attended a meeting with the Exec to provide an update on bargaining and the changes that had occurred around the country. That this was well received and gave importance guidance to the Branch for the next negotiation round.

Mediation

The Branch was in mediation, with Walter Grills in Dunedin on 12/3/12 with TEU National Secretary Sharn Riggs in attendance, to address lack of management response to the Branch vote of NO CONFIDENCE in the CE, that vote having been taken in October 2011, which brought up many of the issues pertaining to and still not addressed by executive management.

Outcomes of Mediation

The effect of this mediation was to move a number of long standing individual and collective issues to resolution. It also meant that the executive Management is now obliged to talk to the Branch in a meaningful way and on a regular basis. Regular monthly scheduled meetings with Executive management have eased the air of distrust slightly from members point of view when they see resolution for issues that management and particularly HR were prevaricating about on minor details or deliberate misconstructions, and blatant HR stone walling.

Specifically from the Mediation:

A commitment to genuine consultation,•

The work environment survey,•

A change in communication styles,•

Senior management cooperation with the Branch,•

And the General Staff Salary Scales.•

At the date of this AGM, the staff satisfaction/ workplace survey is yet to happen, but we have been assured that there are only a few issues around privacy yet to be resolved.

Meetings with the Executive Management: The outcome and success of Branch Executive meetings with Executive Management has depended considerably on which individual management members attend, as some are much more cooperative and upfront than others. Some are better to not attend. Recent changes in the Executive management, with Jane Leahy and James Brody both having been made


redundant, has meant that we work more with the Deputy CE, Alex Cabrera. Meetings have been conducted monthly since March.

GSS Implementation

The General Staff Pay Scales have now been finally implemented, after five years of work by the Branch, for which we particularly thank Kris Smith. There had been sticking points around the back-pay for members that was contentious as management persisted in back-tracking on the settlement agreed to at Bargaining for the CA. General staff members are placed on the scales, and there are ongoing discussions on behalf of individuals.

Issues

Members on positions created to specifically take them out of the CA have found that the positions are untenable and the workload impossible, and without adequate recompense. The workload expected of staff is resulting in either staff working in annual leave or accumulating too many annual leave days. Early in the year we identified that tutors are expected to perform marketing tasks ahead of teaching; all KPIs and PD are aligned to this marketing drive. There have been ongoing issues for staff regarding the taking of Professional Development leave.

There has been a reduction in services to students at a time when student services is supposed to have been increasing.

Protest

A protest was held at a Polytechnic Council Meeting; placards held by members standing silent around the room until excluded by confidential business. The press was in attendance. The local public is very supportive of staff, with no negative feedback received about what has been a fairly public conflict.

Recruitment

As a small Branch, working in a small institution, we are able to interface directly with all staff. Our density is relatively high, and we work on this constantly. With a small staff we see any new staff, either during the official on-boarding process undertaken in conjunction with the institution’s HR dept, or simply through approaching unfamiliar faces in the staff room etc. Now the density also helps in that we can ask key members to keep an eye out for new staff in their areas.

The Branch lost several members at the end of 2011, with the greatest number because of the pointless restructuring exercise carried out by management. This illogical restructuring last year has resulted in a nil net saving to the institution. We have worked hard to build up membership again, maintaining the membership at about 108.

The Branch must continue to increase the proportion of membership within the institution in order to retain a critical mass of staff. Every increase in membership increases the strength of our collective voice and therefore our bargaining power.

Branch Meetings

The various Branch meetings have been very well attended with attendance at about 50% for some, and members are vitally interested in the progressing of issues to resolution.

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Since the November 2011 AGM, there have been a number of Branch Meetings.

The Dunedin farewell for the members who had been made redundant was held in December. Trevor Hill, Sonia van der Klundert, Diane Brown, Stu Oldham, Louise Dignan and Dave Watt were farewelled by other members at this informal occasion.

On May 8th, 34 members were present for National Secretary, Sharn Riggs’ presentation of the ITP sector global situation.

July 3rd, “Speak Up” for Tertiary Education Campaign, Nora Dickie Hall, TGHS, Sarah Davis TGHS Principal, Sandra Grey TEU President, Kay Nelson AP CE, Grant Robertson Labour Party Tertiary Education Spokesperson. Grant Robertson spoke about levels 1 and 2 being contestable, lack of pastoral care at PTEs, Youth Guarantee Scheme students, and that education is being marketed as a product.

July 11, Carol organized a recruitment day.

Similarly on July 25th, Carol organized the General Staff Day.

On the 26th July the Branch celebrated the implementation of the GSS at Monteiths in conjunction with the retirement party and presentation to Steve Geddes, former Branch Chair.

There was a Branch meeting on the 29th august, where nominations for the AGM were sought and the concerns for the future of the institution were discussed in terms of mergers etc. Two Branch Executive meetings have followed, on the 31st August and the 17th September.

Branch Executive

Carol Soal, as Co-Chair, has taken on a greater role within the Branch. Carol has attended four meetings in Wellington thus far 2012, and reported back to members, one to the ITP Sector Group Meeting and one to the General Staff Meeting.

Ongoing

The institution has failed in the plans imposed over the past two and half years to meet its EFTs target, missing by up to approximately 600 this year. The current fiscal deficit and the projected loss for next year have put the institution in a very difficult position. It has become obvious this week that the council of the institution has to examine alternatives regarding a merger with another institution.


AUTAugust 2012

These are some of the main Branch issues and activities for the year September 2011 to August 2012.

Formal Branch advice and support for members

For the period 30 Sep 2011 to 01 Aug 2012

The Branch represented members in 14 separate discipline cases involving AUT HR.•

The Branch advised and represented members in 20 separate compliance cases that concerned •issues with their terms and conditions of employment at AUT.

The Branch gave other types of advice to members in 61 formal meetings.•

This table shows previous years’ figures for a comparison.

Year No Discipline Cases No Compliance Cases No all other Cases

Sep 2006 to Aug 2007 4 N/A N/A

Sep 2007 to Aug 2008 9 N/A N/A

Sep 2008 to Aug 2009 14 N/A N/A

Sep 2009 to Aug 2010 10 7 34

Sep 2010 to Aug 2011 13 8 48

Sep 2011 to Aug 2012 14 20 61

AUT Bargaining 2011 - 2012

The main points in both the Allied and Academic 2012 Terms of Settlement were:

Salary we received a 2.4% increase to salaries from 01 Jan 2012•

Union pass-on benefit it was agreed that a 10 week period would pass before non-union staff would •get any of these new terms, effective from 01 January 2012

In the Academic Collective, changes have also been made to the lecturer promotion procedures and •references to confirmation for new staff were removed

The TEU now has achieved an Allied Collective Agreement with AUT and TIASA (a first for the TEU at •AUT)

AUT Bargaining Talks 2012 - 2013

The Branch has commenced new formal negotiations for the two Allied and Academic separate employment collective agreements with AUT. Bargaining reports will be sent to members as progress is made.

TEU National UpdateThe TEU membership is stable and we remain the biggest union in the Tertiary Education Sector. The latest TEU National Office figures put membership at 10,403 financial members (as at July 2012) this is a small drop from last year. For comparison the 2012 Government union membership survey records TIASA’s national

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membership as 1,768 members.

Update on AUT Staffing Reviews

AUT has conducted 4 separate staffing reviews since Sept 2011, see the details below.

Staffing review Approx Approx staff Approx Surplus staff Dates

EFTS FTE FTE

1. Post-graduate Health N/A 1 0 Feb 2012

2. Business N/A 35 8 Feb 2012

3. Pharmacology N/A 1 1 Mar 2012

4. International House 300 27 27 Aug 2012

Totals 300 64 36

The TEU has represented all these staff and in the case of Business and International House it is expected that much more union support will be needed for the affected members.

Re the Business Degree redundancy review (with approx 8 FTE surplus) the main issues are; the disestablishment of multiple positions, the international accreditation of the Business School and the use of teaching assistants to perform teaching previously done by lecturers.

For the AUT International House (which teaches English to International students) redundancy review (with approx 27 FTE surplus) the main issue is the proposed total closure of the School due to a financial deficit.

Professional Issues

Branch Membership Numbers – 673 members

The targeted Branch membership drive has continued over 2012 and has been very successful. Thank you for all your efforts in recruiting new staff to join the TEU.

Date Total number of AUT members as per National Office figures

Nov 2012 601

31 May 2011 624

20 Feb 2012 660

08 May 2012 666

23 Aug 2012 673 (highest ever)

Academic Staff Promotion Policy 2012

AUT proposed a new Academic Staff Promotion Policy for the 2012 promotion round after consultation with the TEU. A short summary of the main changes in the new AUT policy are:

There is now a simplified promotion process from lecturer to senior lecturer•

A smaller application is needed•

All three criteria will be considered (teaching, research/scholarship & leadership)•

The “senior lecturer” and “senior lecturer above bar” grades are now all in one SL scale in which:•


The bottom 6 SL grades (SL 1 - 6) would have automatic annual progression•

The top 3 SL grades (SL 7 – 9) would be accessed by an annual progression review•

There is a new appeal process•

It will be reviewed jointly by the TEU and AUT after the first round•

CMC meetings

The TEU reps on the Collective Agreement Monitoring Committee are: Sue Bretherton, Julie Douglas, Hamish McCracken, Anne Philpott, Bev Roser and John Prince. The CMC has met seven times in the last 12 months and key issues covered include:

1. Fixed term appointments Clause 3.1.3 f ) & g) re ongoing work and rolling over FTAs

2. Proportional appointments Clause 3.1.2 e) increments of 0.1

3. Fixed Term Agreements with full year’s load clause 3.1.3 a)

4. Request for data from AUT about staff on Fixed Term Agreements

5. Pay Equity Report from Gender Equity Group

6. Nil fees issue For staff on less than 1.0 FTE

7. Use of the term Tutor in the Health Faculty

8. The new AUT Academic Promotion Policy

9. Progression within Professorial salary grades

10. AUT’s proposed Retirement Policy

11. Workload Guidelines from the School of Language & Culture

Links with Allied Groups

The Branch has had an ongoing involvement with the Service & Food workers’ Union (SFWU) to support their “Living Wage Campaign”

The TEU has met with TIASA to discuss general staff issues for upcoming negotiations and as part of a joint working party on coverage under the collective for catering and security staff.

Acknowledgements

Thanks again to all those who work for the local Branch and the TEU nationally. A special thanks to all TEU members at AUT for their individual support of their colleagues.

I am grateful to the following Branch Officers & CMC reps: Andy Ballard, Janet Bedggood, Sue Bretherton, Julie Douglas, Brian Farley, Michael Fletcher, Ailsa Haxell, Emma Kelly, Mark Le Fevre, Hamish McCracken, Camille Nakhid, Dave Nicholls, Anne Philpott, Evan Poata-Smith, Bev Roser, Messina Shaw, I’u Tuagalu, Tafili Utumapu-McBride and Terry Weblemoe.

I would also like to thank; Irena Brorens (our Auckland Organiser) and all the staff at TEU Wellington National Office for their hard work and support.

Regards

John Prince

Branch President

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Te Whare Wānanga o AwanuiārangiSeptember 2012

He hara tāku toa i te toa taki tahi

Engari tāku toa hei toa takitini.

Tēnā ra koutou

The branch is looking a little more healthy than it was 12 months ago. Despite a number of people leaving the wānanga, and leaving the union as a consequence, more people have joined and we now have more members on site than we did 12 months ago.

However, while our membership is increasing, the actual number of people involved in TEU activities is not increasing. There have been one or two meetings called at which only two or three people have turned up.

We lost an excellent organiser when Russell Taylor resigned from his job. Russell was replaced by Enzo Giordani, who has been a pleasure to work with. Unfortunately, Enzo is now moving to a different group in the union. I am sure that we will work as well with Jane Adams for the next 12 months.

The employment contract negotiations were a major part of the year, and we negotiated a 1% wage increase for 12 months, with a $600 lump sum payment for union members employed during 2011, and again with no significant change to conditions.

Two major working parties resulted from the CEC negotiations. An Academic Staff Workload working party has met on two occasions to discuss Academic Staff workload policies. There is a policy on the table which is currently being discussed. This will be circulated to branch members once it is a bit more concrete.

A second working party, to draft a Maori-framework collective employment contract for 2013 has met on one occasion. This working party includes TIASSA representatives. The management of the wānanga, who asked for this working party, have not put forward any ideas of a Māori framework document or what that might mean. They have indicated that what they wanted in such a document, such as reference to the Treaty of Waitangi, are already in the existing document. A small group of TEU members are discussing what we might like to see in a Māori framework document and what it might say. There needs to be further work on this one before it is ready to the membership to see, let alone the management. Both these working parties will continue until the next CE negotiations.

On the industrial front it has been a quiet year, with few issues arising.

There has been work this year to keep the branch in the minds of our work colleagues, including a successful Soup Kitchen lunch. Such activities seem to serve their purpose and we will look at continuing them.

We did appoint two kaumatua for the branch, Ranui Black and Meremaihi Williams, both long standing union members. They will fulfil their roles admirably.

As I said last year, I am happy to serve as president for the next year, but would like someone else to step up. To this end we need someone to put their hands up now, so they can be involved in branch activities, attend conference, etc, to be ready to become president in 2013, or now if possible.

Tēnā koutou

Ian Stuart


Bay of Plenty Polytechnic20 September 2012


Workload – this is being ‘tinkered with’ without any union consultation – this is of significant •concern

Active anti-union stance•

Low density of union members•


Enzo is conducting clinics on a regular basis on both sites which is great. But not a great take up at •Bongard.

Constant email contact between all members•

Additional information

Interesting to note from the BOPP Annual Report the differences in pay increases. Average staff increase was minimal, average Key Manager was much more but there was a significant pay increase for Councillors.

BOPP continues to do very well financially but little of the surplus is distributed to staff.

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CPITKia ora tatou!

Welcome to the report of the Branch President for TEU at CPIT for 2011-2012, and the last one from me.

In this report, I’ll look back over the past year, look ahead to what’s coming up. Plus some goodbyes.

We took part in the Pasifica Forum (held in Auckland), and this event has generated considerable interest amongst our members. And we unearthed additional activists – Francie Oberg-Nordt and Sam Uta’i. Except to see them in action over the next few years!

We held a recruitment drive in September and followed this up with a Speak Up for Education event. Speakers included CPIT CE Kay Giles, TEU President Sandra Grey, MP Megan Woods, and Christchurch City Councillor Yani Johanson.

Membership is growing at CPIT, albeit slowly. There is what is effectively an employer’s union for academic staff, and this union now has slightly more members than TEU. Since the employer is quite keen to see it stay this way, conditions are fairly difficult for recruitment.

Also sad to see that the students association at CPIT (CPSA) is largely defunct, with most of its functions taken over by CPIT. CPSA is currently is attempting to recreate itself, but the future does not look bright. It’ll be no great surprise that extra pastoral care responsibilities will fall on staff as a result…

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to pay tribute to our TEU Executive for 2011-2012: Ryan Baker, Charlie Catt, Gerard Duignan, Mahony May, Charmaine Tukua, and Robert Watson. Plus Francie Oberg-Nordt and Sam Uta’i, who we co-opted. Thanks team!

From this team we have lost Ryan Baker, who has returned to industry, and our long serving secretary Charlie Catt. Charlie is nearing retirement

Oh yes, and me too. I’ve decided to reduce my role in TEU at CPIT. I always said that I’d resign if we lost our discretionary leave, and that’s where we ended up after negotiations in 2011.

On the plus side however, next year promises to be an exciting time with a new team! Plus we have an innovation new to CPIT – co-Presidents: Mahony May and Robert Watson, representing academic and allied (general) staff here at CPIT.

So, to sum up – it’s been another interesting year. As I said last year, CPIT is a great place to work and does wonders for its students. But sometimes, as an institution, the major reason for these wonders happening – the staff – seem to figure as an afterthought. We’ll keep working on this!

There are sure to be exciting times ahead – make sure you are part of it all with TEU!

Kia kaha!

Richard

Richard Draper

Immediate Past Branch President

TEU at CPIT


EITOctober 2012

Introduction

2012 is the second year since the merger with Tairawhiti took place. We are constantly being told by management how well things are going, but it is fair to say that there are certainly some teething issues. These are creating stresses of harmonisation of programmes and resources resulting in workload issues. In 2011 much of the extra workload was borne by management, now that workload is affecting tutorial staff.

Membership

In 2007 our membership was 84. In 2008 we had 93 and at one stage in 2009 we had 98. Our membership has continued to grow to 103 in 2010. The Taradale branch has 105 members and the Tairawhiti branch takes the total to 147. In 2012 this number has remained stable even though we have had a membership drive. A number of long term members have left EIT so new membership has been balanced by resignations. I am having some issues around notification of new staff that I am sorting out.

There are interesting moves afoot in TIASA with a new branch chair who is more TEU friendly and I have had a number of TIASA members come and talk to me recently. I am hopeful of significant gains in this relationship. There are still a lot of people working at EIT who do not belong to either union. While that is their right, it is in our interest to try and boost membership even more.

Core Services Review

This review probably affected TIASA members more than our own. But several members have had hours cut back. There are moves to create a single salary scale for allied staff which has many of them looking at their jobs in a new light. It has highlighted the issue of limited tenure staff having agreements rolled over for up to 7 years.

Level 1 and 2 Funding

EIT management were very surprised that we did not get any of the Level 1 and 2 funding that was put up for tender. There is great confusion around what will happen next as there are no details as to who have been allocated funds in the region. As 25% of EITs provision is level 1 and 2 its loss has the ability to affect many jobs.

I also believe that a major outcome of this change is that more and more education employees will become casualised, because the funding cycle is only 2years.

Negotiations

The Collective Agreement expired on the 1st of October. Our team ably lead by Nanette Cormack spent the 2nd and 3rd of October discussing our very reasonable claims. The management position has of course been affected by the level 1 and 2 news. The current position is that we have to talk to our members to achieve a mandate to talk about their claims around duty time and discretionary leave.

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The issue around CEO salary increases was brought up and this received a very negative and defensive response. I wonder if this is not an Achilles heel for all branches to use.

Gordon Reid

TEU Branch Co President


Lincoln UniversityClare Churcher/Stu Larsen

October 2012

As the incoming Branch President at Lincoln, I have only made minor contributions to this report (in italics) whilst the majority of it has been written by Clare Churcher, now our immediate Past President. I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Clare for her on-going commitment to the Committee and for her continued support while I try to find my feet in a role vastly different from any I have done before. I’m also very thankful for the active and supportive Committee members, but I’d particularly like to thank Cindy Doull who constantly amazes me with her enthusiasm and dedication to her role on Campus. In my new role as Branch President, her patience, support, and expertise is a Godsend!

I have very much enjoyed my term as the Lincoln Branch President. I have learnt a great deal about the machinations of the University and the TEU!

Once again huge thanks to Cindy for her wonderful work on behalf of TEU members at Lincoln. She does a huge amount of work supporting a large number of members individually collectively. Similarly Kris Smith looks after the Telford campus and we are grateful for all her efforts there.

This year’s committee have again been excellent to work with. Thank you everyone. Congratulations to Scott Walters for gaining a position on the TEU National Council. I’d especially like to acknowledge those members of the committee who are stepping down this year: Lyndsay Ainsworth and Paula Morrison.

This year we have acquired a new Vice Chancellor and an almost completely new management team in HR. We were always able to have useful communications with the previous incumbents even if the outcomes of discussions were not always as we hoped for. It was very pleasing that Andrew West initiated a meeting with the TEU very soon after his arrival. He seemed genuinely keen to maintain regular communications. We gave him a list of our top four long term issues and await his response. We have maintained regular meetings with HR but while we are repeatedly assured of imminent action on our issues we do not always see any concrete outcomes. We have made several requests to HR for regular updates to university staff on the practical aspects of life on campus following the earthquakes but none have been forthcoming. We had to resort to making an official information request for engineering reports on campus buildings. Eventually some were made available.

The lack of communication from HR, in combination with the confrontational style that had been adopted by them, resulted in a formal request from the Branch Committee to meet with the VC to discuss these issues. This request was accepted with the outcome being a VC mediated session between HR and TEU reps (Cindy, Stu). The relationship since then has been more positive but still needs lots of work.

Reviews and Restructures

A review of teaching support in Commerce saw a proposal to disestablish some permanent tutor positions to be replaced in part with temporary support. This is a very disturbing trend and one which the TEU vigorously opposed. A review of foundation studies is currently in the consultation phase and the union is supporting staff with preparing submissions. As a result of this, two members have been made redundant. A challenge has been raised with regards to the job descriptions and variation to collective agreement.

Individual employment agreements

We are noticing an increasing number of new staff are being placed on individual agreements rather than onto the collective. We would urge you all to make any new staff aware of the advantages of being on a collective agreement so they can make an informed choice about their employment.

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Negotiations

The services staff agreement expired last year and HR were not been helpful in establishing dates to commence discussions. Academic and General staff negotiations are about to start. We were pleased to hear from Andrew West that one of his objectives is to see Lincoln staff salaries become more competitive with other NZ and overseas universities. He tempered this by adding – when the financial situation allows – but nevertheless it is encouraging. The Services Staff CEA has now been ratified and signed.

PBRF

Nearly over! Lincoln along with other universities have established a protocol for who should have access to individual PBRF scores. Originally all HoDs and Deans were to be given access but this was then limited to Deans. The national office has suggested some wording for members to add to their PBRF disclosure statement if they wish. It supports the TEUs position that only aggregated scores be made available to management.

Top 4 unresolved issues:

These are the issues we presented to the VC at our initial meeting.

1. Superannuation for Academic Staff

The TEU suggested a compromise option to help the university resolve the anomaly with super for academics. Roger Field said our option was his preferred choice and appreciated our input – but he maintained the university was not in a financial situation to do anything but maintain the status quo. We will be pursuing this with the new VC

2. Intellectual Property Agreement (which expired in 2009)

A brief flurry of activity at the end of 2011 with a meeting of a steering committee. No action at all this year. Absolutely unacceptable.

3. Study leave

A review group was set up in 2011. Our understanding is that a report was prepared some months ago but has not yet been released by SMG. Again – not good enough.

4. PIMD

Still no action on this long standing issue. Again – not good enough.

Finally – thank you for the opportunity to be your president. I have enjoyed it very much and the incoming president will have my total support (if he wants it!) (he does, thank you)


Massey University19 September 2012

The Massey Branch of the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) has experienced another long and difficult year. The need for the tertiary providers and their staff to perform their teaching, research, administration duties and community service roles continues as usual. However, an ever increasing requirement is being imposed on staff to also complete assessment reports and other auditing processes to confirm that various goals and performance measures are being met. The theory of institutional and personal autonomy which used to exist and let staff quietly get on with their jobs, mentor their students and progress research has been replaced by the current mindset which wishes to measure and value everything for its economic value with little respect for the social improvement and civilised thought inherent in higher education.

Massey Branch Committee

The sad outcome of this shift has been an increase in the pace and workload of the staff who deliver or support the university’s activities. E-learning and the additional requirements of online resources and contact with students have increased the hours required for teaching and student support at a sacrifice of time for research. Lack of time and energy for union activities is an unfortunate side effect of this pressure. We have been fortunate that the Massey Branch Committee of TEU has continued to function and we have a good composition of members from across our three campuses. While the university does provide time release for some of their meetings and activities, their work is not normally reallocated and still has to be completed somehow. On behalf of the members, I thank them for the sacrifices they make on top of their normal workload, in an effort to maintain or improve our working conditions earned by those before us.

Union Organisers

Our union is ably supported by the organisers located to support each campus. Jane Kostanich supports members at the Albany campus in conjunction with those of other Auckland based institutions. Russell Taylor resigned in December 2011 to pursue other interests. Russell was based at Turitea and primarily supported the members in polytechnics but was also a backup for Massey related problems. His departure provided an opportunity to revise roles which resulted in Lawrence O’Halloran changing duties from the Massey focus to polytechnics and Massey Wellington. Our new organiser, Dean Scott, arrived in January keen to meet new challenges. Dean has taken over as the primary organiser for the members on the Manawatu campuses and also for the wide range of administration, policy watch, and meetings with management which occur on a regular basis.

Governance

The composition of university councils are also under threat with the Minister of Tertiary Education, Steven Joyce, suggesting that they are “large and unwieldy”, and should be taking “a more entrepreneurial approach.” Polytechnic councils have already been restructured with four government appointees who select a further four members. The loss of stakeholder representation (ie students and staff) along with the proposed focus on economic aims is a serious threat to the governance of universities. In particular, the role of academics to be the “critic and conscience of society” could be at risk if an academic raises issues which contradict the wishes of the government of the day. This is a battle for the future, which is currently being discussed at Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor levels, but the voice of academics should be raised to counter any such proposal.

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Bargaining

This last working year of our branch, which cycles around the AGM in September, begins and ends with bargaining processes. Although our collective employment agreement has a termination date of June 30, the bargaining for 2011 did not get concluded and ratified until December 2011. A late start and difficult negotiations was the primary reason, but lack of money and the consequential inadequate offer took time to work through. The retention of some form of union benefit was eventually agreed and the six week advance payment for members was instrumental in being able to recruit another 70 members during the ratification process despite the December timing. Another cycle of bargaining has almost concluded for 2012 after five agonising days of negotiations with little to show for our work. Members will determine acceptance or otherwise of the deal which the employer has offered, but it is unlikely that anyone will be happy with the financial constraints imposed upon us all.

Policies

The never ending review of university policies continues on a regular basis. TEU now has an agreement on consultation and advisory requirements for the subset of policies which directly affect our working conditions. The policy on workloads, which we advertised and encouraged members to make comment, was one of many which we make submissions on throughout the year. We were pleased to learn that 196 submissions were received regarding the workloads policy, and some changes have been made as a result. On occasions, some policies have to be formally approved or notified to the university’s Academic Board and we urge our members to require proper discussion on matters of concern.

We have been pleased with the ongoing work accomplished by the group created to progress the needs discovered by the Pay and Employment Equity Survey held in 2010. Policies and procedures regarding harassment and bullying are being updated, training options for managers to recognise problems are being developed and more work is required to enable staff to recognise and stop inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.

One outcome of the 2011 bargaining round required a review of general staff remuneration and promotion. This was tied into a union wish for a transparent job evaluation scheme which could assist in comparisons with salaries in the private sector and other public service jobs. The employer was hoping to reduce the cost of automatic increments, especially since the removal of the merit bars from the middle of each grade. Many general staff are now stranded at the top of their job’s evaluated grade with little prospect of promotion other than transfer or application for another job. TEU is having discussions with the employer on staff development options to better utilise their skills if possible.

Membership functions

In July, general staff were provided with an extended lunch break for the nationally celebrated General Staff Day. Each campus held events such as an educational quiz along with food, but the primary focus was for general staff to meet and greet and recognise the work they did for the university. Massey University also did well in the national prize draw with a member winning the $500 travel voucher and an invited non-member also winning a prize.

Employment Relationship Issues

Pressure on staff to reduce their annual leave to a half year entitlement before year-end continues to cycle as managers are reminded of this wish by senior management. The university is trying to reduce its leave entitlement for financial purposes, but the union view is that staff are entitled to use their four weeks leave as they wish throughout the year. There are differing opinions of this point, but the current standoff is that, in most cases, the manager may “request” staff take leave, but cannot “demand” they do. Members should contact their union organiser if undue pressure or bullying occurs. We should also note that there


has also been some clarification of issues related to the combination of parental leave, annual leave and leave without pay. Prospective parents may wish to consult with the union organiser for clarification where required.

Academic staff members had additional duties to update their list of research outputs and locate records for the PBRF funding round. This was no minor exercise and involved completion of a preliminary research portfolio in February, extensive checking and then the final version completed ready for submission to TEC in July. The union was involved in many aspects along the way and we are still trying to extract a suitable confidentiality protocol from the employer on the use and scope of access of individual category scores which TEC may release.

Reviews and Restructuring

An institution the size of Massey University inevitably has reviews of some sections of its workforce. In the past year there have been some significant changes proposed, which the TEU ensured went through the proper consultation and policy making decision processes. Creation of a new College of Health from a combination of various schools and institutes across the university has now been approved and will take effect from the beginning of 2013. There are no job losses envisaged in its early stages, but there will be major changes in lines of management in this area and we expect some changes in location eventually.

The College of Education has gained approval to become an Institute of Education within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences beginning 2013. It will also be dropping its undergraduate degree in favour of a postgraduate teaching qualification on top of a general bachelor’s degree. At the same time, management has decided to alter the teaching ratio from 1:17 to 1:20 to reduce costs, which has determined that a drop of 25 (FTE) positions will be required. While an enhanced voluntary retirement package was offered, and accepted by a few staff members, a review of staff is now in process to determine the fate of staff required to meet the target of 18 redundant positions. It is hoped that student enrolments will be maintained in the new Institute of Education to conserve the proposed staffing quota, but staff will be uneasy for some time yet.

Other review processes are also occurring in the College of Sciences, Student Administration and Research Support Services. These reviews will change the structure, lines of management and/or job composition of these units, but job losses are not expected.

Membership

Membership numbers have remained relatively constant despite membership and employee churn and number 1268 as at September 2012.

Harvey Jones

Massey Branch President

September 2012.

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Manukau Institute of Technology2011 was the year of ‘rightsizing’ MIT. It was a very stressful time for the majority of us, regardless of whether or not our jobs were affected.

We lost over 30 TEU members through voluntary and compulsory redundancy. Many of those who have left were very long time members and are greatly missed.

Sadly, we also lost Ivan Vazey after a short illness and Temepara Sexton after a long term illness.

On a brighter note, I returned to Scotland for the first time in 18 years in August / September. John Connor covered for me as branch president for the 6 weeks I was away and I’d like to thank him once again but he was one of the casualties of ‘rightsizing’!

Bargaining was concluded in less than a day this year which must be an all time record and we managed to achieve a modest increase with no loss of conditions. A great settlement in relation to other ITPs.

As a branch, we supported the striking AFFCO workers at a small tannery in Wiri by shouting them lunch one day shortly before the dispute was resolved and they were very appreciative.

Our delegate structure is working well and we had a highly successful and enjoyable delegate training day on Friday 27th July at the Botanical Gardens.

The delegates that attended are helping with a mapping and recruitment exercise which will hopefully more than compensate for the members lost due to ‘rightsizing’.

I continue to be very active at a national level as a member of the ITP sector group, Council and 2 subcommittees.

As part of TEU’s ‘Speak Up For Education’ campaign, I have organized a panel discussion on 13th August with a mixture of politicians and academics so look out for the posters and invite your family and friends.

The main issues that have cropped up this year include

Workload•

Performance management•

Increased TTH•

Student complaints•

I would like to thank Chan Dixon our TEU Organiser for her hard work, professionalism, patience (with me) and total commitment to representing TEU members at MIT.

Lesley Francey

Branch President, K305, Ext 8349


NMIT29 August 2012

Introduction

This year has again seen many changes at NMIT, including :

The consolidation of the Group Manager positions.•

The consolidation of the Programme Area Leader positions.•

Many changes to individual programmes (e.g. the Bachelor of Nursing).•

The closure of F Block because of earthquake risk.•

Many consequential changes throughout the Nelson campus.•

Many changes to other buildings.•

The continuation of the three year SMS project to replace Artena with EBS4.•

The continuation of the Digital Literacy Programme.•

The introduction of four Institute-wide PD days.•

These changes, and many others not identified above, are having a significant impact on the way TEU staff work at NMIT.

TEU Organisation : National

Our work with TEU national office continues to go well, with a few small areas that need some 1. thought.

The main area that still needs some thought is the date of the annual national conference. At 2. the moment this is still at the point where our students have their main work peak at the end of semester 2, which makes it difficult for many of our staff to take time away from teaching. This needs a rethink, so national conference is at an easier time (e.g. the start of term 4, or in the last week of November).

Another area that needs some thought is the set of terms used for office holders. At the moment 3. we are continuing to use the older ASTE term “Branch Chair”, rather than the TEU term “Branch President”, which still feels somewhat ostentatious.

This year our branch has continued to be part of the area looked after by our South Island organiser, 4. Phil Dodds. We thank Phil for his work, which has been excellent.

TEU Organisation : Branch at NMIT

As noted above, NMIT continues to change at a rapid pace. This has given our TEU staff in the local branch many areas to work on over the year. Our work has included :

Support and advice for members in misconduct proceedings.•

Support and advice for members whose positions have been under review.•

Support and advice for members who are overloaded by the addition of gradual additional •

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responsibilities.

Extensive discussions with our CEO regarding the workload allocation and monitoring processes •being used by NMIT.

Continuing to challenge the current interpretation of redundancy being used by NMIT, which •has the potential to have a vast impact on staff who are made redundant within a year of taking unpaid leave.

Negotiations for a Collective Employment Agreement for the year starting March 2012.•

Extensive discussions in the Agreement Monitoring Committee and associated working parties •about the workload allocation and monitoring processes being used by NMIT.

Extensive discussions in the Agreement Monitoring Committee and associated working parties •about changes to NMIT policies and procedures (e.g. a new Merit Progression policy).

Extensive discussions in CEO-Union meetings throughout the year about a wide variety of •other staff concerns (e.g. how we provide effective professional development opportunities, the concerns of staff about the two cellphone towers at NMIT, staff management processes in different schools and programme areas, support for students using NMIT Online, and many others).

Monitoring of the staff progression round as independent process observers.•

Arranging a one-hour presentation on cellphone towers in conjunction with TIASA and SANITI. •That presentation will be on Wednesday 19 September 12-1 in M307.

During the year, these core branch Executive functions have been handled by five people :

Bruno Lemke•

Chris Turton•

Dave Blanchet•

David Ayre•

Monique Day•

This arrangement, of focussed work by a small number of people, has been a pattern for the last five years. This five-person Exec is an improvement on the four-person Exec in 2011, but it needs further extension to enable us to focus enough time on the issues that arise in a period of rapid change. In particular, we need to directly challenge the gradual incremental overload of staff that is happening in many areas, and take adequate steps to counter significant threats to our terms and conditions of employment, such as those that were evident in our negotiations for a new Collective Employment Agreement in 2011, and which may well return in future.

I have carried out the roles of branch chair and co-chair for the last five years, and this is the last year that I will be in those roles. My thanks to the other members of the core Exec for all your work. It has been a privilege working with you all, and with the other TEU members at our branch, over that time. I am very willing to be involved in the branch Exec on specific projects in 2013, and look forward to working with you again in that role.

David Ayre

Co-Chair of TEU at NMIT


NorthTec 17 September 2012

Kia ora, Tena koutou katoa

No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.

Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

The year that was

On 13 February we settled a collective employment agreement at NorthTec after protracted negotiations. The proposed terms of settlement was ratified by a clear majority of members in our e-ballot. It is a tribute to the collective will and strength of members that we have achieved a collective agreement and that members are confident the agreement will protect their key working conditions. The key changes are removal of the 825TTH, 300TTH and 185 teaching days maxima, to be replaced by NorthTec’s current workload policy, guidance notes and planning tool as the parameters for determining workload; nine weeks annual leave for members covered by the ex-MECA; a baseline of nine weeks leave for other members, with the employer able to exchange a maximum of two weeks of that in any one year (for 2% salary per week). The word ‘discretionary leave’ is deleted, and called annual leave; 2.05% effective 13 February 2012; 2.05% effective 13 January 2013; $1200 lump sum payment (gross and pro rata) for members covered by ex-MECA to recognise lack of salary movement in previous years.

Members continue their high quality, teaching and learning for our students in Tai Tokerau. Organisational change and workload as per previous year are the two predominant issues where members sought support, advice and assistance. At least 49 members required substantial assistance as shown below.

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In addition there were 40 IEA to CEA enquiries each requiring an individual analysis due to variability in each circumstance.

There is a degree of frustration felt by members around the direction the NorthTec waka is steering especially in relationship to having a common purpose (vision) and biculturalism. Given we are in nearly in the heart of Ngapuhi and our student numbers approach 50% Mäori there is significant differences between NorthTec’s commitment to Mäori and Te Tiriti and our ITP neighbours. This summarises major issues and does not include the myriad of other supportive interventions completed by your branch and organisers.

Currently we have 117 members and for the same periods: 127 (2011), 134 (2010), 152 (2009), 145 (2008) 135 (2007) and 100 members (2006).

The TEU Branch Executive are committed to retaining our current conditions of employment, ensuring healthy workloads, working smarter and not harder, increasing workplace democracy and improving workplace culture and climate. To achieve this we work with National TEU staff, TEU members and NorthTec management. Notably the NorthTec anti-bullying policy has featured on the TEU mana@work website.

Branch people and events

A summary of Branch people and events follow.

Branch Executive Members

One Branch Executive meeting and one branch training day were held this year (Oct to Sep). Due to geography of membership much of the work of the Executive is done via e-mail. The NorthTec Branch Committee members for the year were: Eric J. Stone – President, Bill Rogers – VP/Te Uepu Representative, Mautini Bryers – VP/Treasurer, Maureen Frayling – VP/Women’s Rep Te Kahurangi Maareikura, Natalie Hydes/Joanna Davison – Health and Environment Rep, Clinton Ashill and Maureen Frayling – Creative Industries Rep, Steve Sandford-Hill, and Simon Phelps– Trades Reps, Stephen Rameka – Kaitaia Rep, Berny Kiro – Rawene Rep and Clare Vallom – Bay of Islands Rep and Taina Savage – Kaikohe Rep.

Local TEU involvement at NorthTec

The Agreement Monitoring Committee (AMC) (Eric, Bill and two management reps) have been busy this year working through a revision of the progression process and criteria. At the time of writing this is out for consultation for all staff. Steve Sandford-Hill was the TEU representative on the progression sub-committee for the 2011 academic progression round. It was good to work with our sister union TIASA and together support MWU colleagues in Moerewa. Eric and Terry Mita (Chair of TIASA) meet with the CE four times this year.

Regional Involvement

Chan Dixon, TEU Organiser made regular trips to Tai Tokerau to support TEU members and activities including the delivery if union training under the Employment Relations Education Leave scheme on 22 June.

National Involvement

Eric served on the National TEU Council and TEU ITP Sector Group. Bill and Eric are members of the TEU Te Hau Tikanga o Te Tiriti. Bill, Eric and Mautini attended the TEU National Conference in November last year.

Executive members, our TEU Organisers (Chan Dixon) and National TEU staff are thanked for their time and commitment. There are many other members who have contributed to the operations of the NorthTec Branch of TEU. You are thanked for your mahi.

In solidarity, Eric J Stone Te Tumu Whakarae-ā-Manga Branch President


Otago PolytechnicAnother year rolls by! The year seems to have been spent going from one review to another.

2011 ended with the review and closure of another Community Learning Centre – South Dunedin and 2012 has seen reviews of the Education Development Centre, the administrators on the OP campus, the Community Learning Centres – Queenstown and The Common Room closed and several positions in Cromwell. In almost every review there has been a loss of valuable staff.

At the beginning of this year there was an active drive to recruit new members to TEU with attention being given to increase our general staff membership. I would like to acknowledge the hard work that members have put into this with special thanks going to Michelle, Phil and Kris for the extra efforts that they have made. Between the four of us every member of our branch (OP campus and Cromwell) have been visited and received a TEU coffee cup. These have certainly been a talking point and have increased our visibility around campus. I would urge all members to continue looking for opportunities to talk about TEU activities especially with new staff and to encourage them to join.

We have spent time distributing new TEU posters to staff rooms around campus and have also had a new brochure designed that explores some of the myths around membership of TEU – this was part of a focus to increase general staff membership. The brochure also served to introduce the vice president, immediate past president and chairperson to potential (and in some cases, current!) members. After several false starts we finally managed to have a celebration for our general staff. This was held in conjunction with TIASA and was well attended. Both members and non members were invited and OP management supported the initiative by allowing staff to finish an hour earlier to attend the function. It is important to continue to find ways, both formally and informally, to increase the collaboration between the two unions on campus.

TEU and TIASA branch exec members have been attending a working party with OP management to try and move towards a more collaborative approach to bargaining. These talks are progressing. The working party is also giving us an insight into where we might be heading as far as negotiations go this year. OP management is pushing very hard towards a total remuneration package based around whether Kiwisaver contributions are included. We are seeing signs, even at this early stage, that negotiations this year will not be as simplistic as they have been in the past few years.

The branch has been visited by two staff from Head Office this year. Sharn Riggs (National Secretary) visited in June. She spoke to Exec members giving us a more detailed picture of national events of concern to TEU and also met with Phil Ker. Irena Brorens (National Industrial Officer) visited in July and spoke about industrial matters to a small but interested group of members.

Dr Sandra Grey, TEU National President, visited for ‘Speak Up for Tertiary Education’ in August. This was a locally organised forum in conjunction with The Otago University TEU branch. Phil Ker along with MPs, University management and Dr Grey were invited to discuss the future of Tertiary education in New Zealand. This certainly gave us a greater insight into the way Phil is thinking Otago Polytechnic will go. Thank you to those members who were able to go – it certainly was an interesting and informative discussion.

Locally there are several issues, aside from the usual negotiations, that continue to affect us. Otago Polytechnic is pushing ahead with great speed in their quest to have as many resources etc as part of Open Education available internationally over the internet. This move will have implications for categories of work e.g. contractors, days and hours of work and how workloads are measured. There is also an increasing tendency towards casualisation of our work force. In the past workers would have been employees usually employed on a full time basis however this is quickly moving towards the Australian model of using contractors and proportional workers.

Last but certainly not least a very huge vote of thanks to Kris Smith, our TEU Organiser. She works tirelessly for each and every member of this branch. We are certainly extremely lucky to have such a capable and knowledgeable person working on our behalf. And personally, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to both Phil and Michelle for the support they have given me over this year – I couldn’t have done it without any of you.

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University of Otago

Overview

2012 has been another challenging year for TEU members at the University. The effects of tightening budgets are being felt across the University, driven by drops in EFTs and reduced funding from central government. There have been restructurings in some parts of the University and we finally bid farewell to some staff that were victims of PBRF-related managements of change initiated as far back as 2010. The Union has been active in advocating on behalf of members, and seeks to ensure that the collective voice of union members is heard.

A significant event this year has been the PBRF portfolio submission which has placed great pressure on academic and general staff alike. We would hope that the University recognises the huge effort that staff put in to this exercise and that when PBRF funds begin to flow in 2014 that staff are rewarded for their efforts. Productivity gains have certainly been made in terms of research outputs and in response to growing student to staff ratios, as departments and divisions fall into a holding pattern in the face of uncertain funding environment with which to replace staff members lost by attrition. Workload is certainly a big issue for many members and one that the TEU raised in bargaining and continues to raise with the Vive Chancellor.

In June/July the TEU lead the unions on campus in the bargaining process for the CEA. This year, bargaining was certainly no easier than in previous years, and any gains have been hard-fought. As was the case in 2011, the University expressed opposition to any claim from the combined Unions that would have financial implications (apart from salary claim). Ultimately the bargaining team decided that a two year deal would be the best outcome for members, and while the salary offer of 1.2% (and 1.5% for 2013) is lower than we may have been used to, we feel, that considering the University’s (and the country’s) economic position, and the forecast low inflation rate, that this is an acceptable and we have recommended it for ratification by members (currently underway). Importantly, we have made gains in terms in the area of sick leave (8 days p.a to 10 days p.a.), Campus Watch rosters, trades allowances, and the University agreeing to meet to discuss workload issues, and security of employment (temporary contracts).

The Tertiary education policy and funding environment has been difficult, with potentially serious changes to the University’s governance promulgated by the National government – in terms of a reduced, business-oriented Council with no staff, union or student representation. We are all going to have to resist this strenuously if we wish the University to retain the employment conditions, quality of education and academic freedom that we all cherish.

On a positive note, as part of the TEU’s Speak up for Tertiary Education campaign, we were pleased to organise a public forum in July, held at the Otago Museum, where speakers from the University, Otago Polytechnic, The Greens, Labour Party and the TEU spoke and responded to questions from a lively audience.

We also ran a well attended General Staff Day in July, held in the St Davids complex, where TEU President, Sandra Grey spoke to members (special thanks to Naomi Carvell, Amanda Phillips and Helen Brett for organising this).


Branch Committee Activities

1. Attendance/input to University forums

• VC/DirectorHRmtgs

• InterUnionCouncil

• PDRcommittee

• Academicpromotionscommittees

• Health&SafetyOperationalGroup

• EthicalBehaviourCtte

• UniversityofOtagoChildcareAssoc.

2. Policy involvement

• University

– Internet Use policy

• TEUNationalpolicy

– various

3. Restructurings and Reviews

• Tourism

• CollegeofEducation

• Schoolssupport

• UniPrint

• Universitypress

• Botany

• Design/appliedsciences

• ITS

• Languages

• Deptmedicine-wellington

• Medlibrary-wellington

• RMIP-DeptGeneralPractice

4. Bargaining

• BargainingforCEA’s

• 2012underratification

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– 2 year settlement

– 1.2% salaries 2012, 1.5% 2013 (with minimums applying)

– Improvements to sick leave etc

5. Recruitment

• OngoingBranchCommitteeinvolvement

• AdvertisementStaffBulletin

6. Branch events

• GeneralStaffDay(25thJuly)

• Branchnewsletters(November2011,May2012)

7. Branch involvement at national level

• GenStaffSectorGrp

• UniSectGrp

• StaffWomen’sCaucus

• PacificForumWorkingGroup

• TEUFono

• BranchPresidentsForum

• TEUNationalConference

• PartnershipProgramme-Union/Employer/ACCregionalforums.

8. Local / National Campaigns

• SaveourAssets

• MMP

• SpeakupforEducation

Branch Ctte Members leaving/left

• MelissaLethaby

• CateBardwell

• EricShelton

• IreneHall

• HelenBrett


Branch Organiser Activities

Approximately 50 personal cases. These are cases that require representation of members and written communication to the employer. Issues range from enforcement of terms and conditions of the employment agreements, through to disciplinary cases; bullying; harassment; performance; confirmation; PDR; individual representation during restructuring; workloads; student complaints; job descriptions etc. There are of course numerous other issues that arise that require advice to be given to members or that are able to be resolved with a couple of phone calls.

10 reviews which led to approx 20 redundancies- mainly general staff, although some academic redundancies occurred within the college of education, applied sciences and tourism.

Bargaining has been concluded at OUSA and for the academic and general staff at the university (currently in ratification).

The working party looking at Professional Practice Fellow progression/promotion is nearing a stage where proposals will be put out for wider consultation.

Nominees for 2012/2013 Branch Committee – for Branch AGM 19th September 2012

Teresa LaRooy – Co-President

Brent Lovelock – Co-President

Diane Galvin – Secretary/Treasurer

Suzanne Gillies – ITS Rep

Amanda Phillips – Status of Women Rep

Craig Marshall - Health Sciences Rep (Aca)

Steven Sexton – Teacher Education Rep

Michelle Schaaf – Humanities (Aca)

Diane Ruwhiu – Committee

Brett Nicholls – Committee

Vijay Devadas – Committee

Kirk Hamilton – Committee

Melanie Lewis – Committee

Brent Lovelock and Teresa La Rooy

TEU University of Otago Branch Co-Presidents

19th October 2012

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SIT2012 has been a relatively quiet year for the SIT Branch. Very few cases have been brought to the attention of the organiser and as this is not a bargaining year members have just got on with their work. Workloads are very high at SIT. Members are required to work to the TTH maxima which sits consistently at 825 TTH regardless of the type of programmes being delivered.

The Branch farewelled Rose Cardoso who had been Branch President for a number of years. Rose has moved on to work in the ECE sector. The Branch acknowledges the contribution of Rose locally and nationally. She will be missed.

The Branch has an active Executive at the Invercargill campus and a strong representation at the Christchurch Campus. The Branch Executive meets monthly. In 2013 Glenn Stridiron will be taking over as Branch President.

In July the Branch bought TEU Keep Cups for every member. Each member was visited to deliver their cup and offered the opportunity to sign the Keep Our Assets petition. At the same time the TEU was promoted to non-members. Membership has been very static for a long time sitting at around 95 members or 70% of eligible staff. The cups went down really well and played a great role in raising union visibility on site.

In August a Speak Up for Tertiary Education Forum was held in Invercargill. A small but interested group attended – one spin off was that the forum brought some people along from an un-unionised area of SIT and has opened up some recruitment opportunities for the Branch.

The Branch remains in reasonable heart and we look forward to working with Glenn in his new role next year.

Kris Smith, TEU organiser on behalf of the SIT Branch Executive.


Tai Poutini Polytechnic26 September 2012

As members will be aware the collective agreement has been ratified and is now in place.

I would like to thank all those individuals who assisted in the process, in particular Phil Dodds. I believe we achieved a positive outcome with a number of progressive gains which sees members and the branch in a strong position for the 2014 negotiation.

It is worth noting that the collective agreement and the individual employment agreement now hold a number of significant differences in regards to terms and conditions and that non union members are not being given the opportunity to obtain a full roll over as has previously taken place. This I believe strengthens the position for T.E.U. members and continues to disadvantages non member employees.

The mid year annual report was submitted on behalf of the branch and outlined the general operations of the branch, there is an additional branch report due for submission by October 05th 2012.

I would like to thank Rick King for the work he has undertaken as treasurer which involves the general financial management and reporting of branch funds.

As Joint Chair and President I have been attending the evening meetings for the newly formed Unions West Coast group, the group has a small but strong membership and is made up of Union delegates and organisers, community, and ministry personal.

I will be attended the Speak Up For Education forum on Wednesday 26th September.

If members are unable to attend and wish information/ comments to be put forward, please email them to me and I will endeavor to ensure they are heard.

During 2012 I have undertaken the role of support person for a number of T.E.U. members within a variety of situations both formal and informal. I have also taken on the role of support person for T.I.A.S.A Union members and non union T.P.P staff members.

Members are reminded that the new collective agreement has an additional section regarding A.S.R (Additional Responsibilities Allowance). Should members be considering applying for this allowance it is recommended that in the first instance they commence documenting specific roles and responsibilities which they consider have been undertaken outside their contractual obligations. It may also be an advantage to pass the application by either Phil or myself prior to it being submitted.

The fall out from the restructure continues to be evident within the institute. Three members in as many months have been affected by full or partial redundancies.

With the new round of funding and ministerial requirements we are monitoring this carefully.

It is interesting to note in the T.P.P annual report that the academic tutorial staff combined salaries have reduced by approximately 1.5 million and the allied non tutorial general staff salaries have increased by approximately 1.5 million.

There has been discussion by management within a variety of forums regarding the maximization of staffing hours and the general facilitation and delivery times of programmes and courses. As a branch we fought very strongly during negotiations to ensure the status quo remained and are watchful that other avenues are not adopted to undermine the terms and conditions currently in place. We will continue to monitor the situation.

There has been some comment regarding the emails/ letters from the Chair of polytechnic council which outlines expectations regarding staff performance. The question, or balance, between governance and management appears to continue evolving into an extremely fine line.

The West Coast branch of the T.E.U has made a number of achievements for its members to date and continues to be involved within the processes of new policy that will assist member’s terms and conditions both now and in the future. The branch is growing in strength with a total membership of 51 (to date).

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I am comfortable continuing in the role of Joint Chair/ President for the West Coast Branch of the T.E.U should members wish me to do so.

Regards

Alex Hayward

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Open Polytechnic of New Zealand Your committee has achieved the following over the past year:

Resolution of a number of (confidential) personal cases, usually with Phil or Keyur’s help.1.

Monitoring of formal policies and procedures, consistent with Collective Agreement 12.15. This will 2. include a revision of the [unilaterally imposed] Policy on Policy Development.

Monitoring the actual use of the [imperfect] new promotions policy and performance planning and 3. review system.

Resolution, by mediation, of the compensation [“restitution”] flowing out of the 34/36 Employment 4. Court ruling. Nearly everyone has now been paid something, if not as much as we would like. We kept is as simple as we could for TEU staff by basing the payments entirely on hours worked in the relevant period [not pay rates]. TEU [with OP HR assistance] have done a tremendous job. Part timer hours forced the calculation right down to hours!

Remuneration review system kept under review. For example, we supported a change to the 5. appeals panel for procedural fairness. Were we treated as well as the PSA, though? Work for the future?

Continued engagement of Tom McGrath as part time “administrative assistant” and adviser. 6.

A useful working relationship with Keyur Anjaria [HRED].7.

An excellent working relationship within the committee and with Phil Dyhrberg, Regional Organiser. 8.

A warm and useful working relationship with Lee Rizvi of the PSA.9.

Collective bargaining started promptly, and continues. [!]10.

I attended last year’s conference with David Hicks and this year’s president’s forum for a day [sick on 11. the other]. Out of that will come a special day for women members and potential members.

With the help of Sharn Riggs and Tom McGrath has a small but significant lunch with Gordon Halsey 12. where his service award was presented.

Health and Safety in the workplace has been and remains a priority. Attacking work hazards often 13. solves staff problems.

Day to day advice to members. You join the union and get help when you need it! Please ask for it 14. when needed. We don’t enjoy rescue missions!

More if I remember it! It has again been a very busy year for some of us, and my privilege!15.

Added 17/9: So busy has the year been that I forgot to say that we have tried, unsuccessfully?, 16. to get fairness in restructuring - for real estate, business administration, and others. The use by the employer of subjective measures, or simply a refusal to respond meaningfully, has made this difficult, and will continue to make it difficult without legal action, which sometimes seems to be the only thing that this ITP employer will respond to. Unfortunately, I expect the branch to be involved in more of these.

Chris Burns, Branch President.

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Te Wānanga o Aotearoa30 July 2012

Priority Issues

Pending changes in many TWOA processes, positions, roles and responsibilities – “to ensure the •organisation remains sustainable”. Refer to “other” for details

Need for us (members) to get actively organised within TWOA- across our 8 campus. As branch •president, am struggling to do this job with integrity because of the demands of my TWOA mahi. This has resulted in me not effectively communicating with branch reps, something I need to address with some urgency.

Bargaining

Collective 2012 to 2013

Still awaiting the ballot to be circulated. Hope it’s soon! •

Reviews and Redundancies

Received advice that restructuring is occurring in the Marautanga department, with staff not •being significantly affected. However, am unsure of details and implications.

Small number of redundancies continuing within Papatoe due to lack of akonga numbers on •programmes.

Organising and Recruiting

As at 28 July, 2012 the number of members stands at 93. There is a heightened interest/curiosity •being shown among kaimahi (admin and academic) about the role and purpose of TEU which we are quietly nurturing. However, refer to “Other” box below for further comment

Recruitment campaign, and improved communication channel strategies across campus (8) on •agenda for discussion with organiser in early September

Engagement with Employer

Represented one line manager on case of bullying which has been dragging on for the best part •of 7 months. Enzo now stepped into dispute which has been protracted due to perpetrator being on paid study leave for 6 months, and returning to work this week.

Professional Development and Education of Membership

To be raised when we have campus meeting with organiser in September •


Professional Issues

Canvassing of, and feedback from staff show there is concern at the amount of bullying happening •within TWoA. As is noted in our Maori Caucus representative’s report, this year within TWoA was called the year of the Kaiako, however staff sense that its “the year of sitting on the kaiako”. If kaiako voice their concerns then they are told” if you don’t want to be on this waka get off”.

Within our TEU representation across campus, we are struggling to identify how to maintain a •profile among members and potential members, and the time involved in holding campus hui and pending branch agm, when we have 8 sites across the country and few representatives available. We hope to get some ideas when we meet with Deon in early September.

Branch Networks

None. A campaign will be initiated in September to strengthen these. •

Information and Communication

Ongoing

Would appreciate list of organiser involvement in TWoA issues on monthly basis, prior to Branch •president’s report. Am liaising with both Dean and Enzo and am unconfident I have a handle on issues throughout the roopu.

Links with Allied Groups

Maintaining a relationship with Maori caucus through active TWOA Waiariki campus representative•

Keeping lines open with Te Whare Wananga o Aotearoa reps because of shared/common interests•

Other

TWoA has signalled that with the recent launching of a new project, Rānukutahi - looking at new/•improved ways of working together) there will be changes in many TWOA processes, positions, roles and responsibilities – “to ensure the organisation remains sustainable”. This suggests that we may be in for restructuring, re-sizing of some jobs. We as members as officials will need to keep a close eye on this.

We are seeking more active feedback about the role that TEU plays on behalf of its Maori members. •We need evidence of Maori organiser presence, and specific issues that TEU is taking up internally and externally for our Maori staff. Those on the ground here are not particularly interested or impressed with the year-by-year-by-year korero within TEU structures about whether there should be more active Maori representation – they want to see that this is in place and being reflected in their engagement with TEU through whanaungatanga, kaitiakitanga, ahurutanga, kotahitanga, etc.

Short term contracts continue to be an issue. Predict these to become a much bigger issue •going into 2013 as TWoA continues to find ways of meeting funding and (?) loss of EFTS funding. Expecting a stronger use of contracts with any ongoing restructuring of positions. One area this could happen is in re-accreditation/new degree approval for degree programmes scheduled to role out in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

NZQA expecting adequate resourcing within (new) degree programmes – we are being told kaiako •positions will comprise .5 teaching, .2 administration and .3 rangahau/professional development.

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This isn’t happening currently. Kaiako going from diploma into new degree programmes are using this as a benchmark. However, the move into mixed mode delivery signals that more kaiako will be required and among kaiako there are doubts that the budgets being allowed for this. IIPs are with ‘Head Office’ – not yet locked into finality but not far off from happening. Watch this space.

Catley McIsaac

Branch President


University of Auckland 1 October 2012

The key feature of 2012 has been the fact that with two-year terms on the existing Academic Staff Collective Agreement (ASCA) and Professional Staff Collective Agreement (PSCA), our branch has not had to engage in large-scale contract negotiations for these groups of staff. This has meant a relatively quiet year on the industrial front. Nevertheless, we have been engaged in a number of initiatives locally and nationally and have found ourselves responding to a number of situations created by our employer.

Contract Negotiations and Union-Management Relations:

Since the time of the last National Conference, our most significant achievement has been the settling of the 2010-2011 dispute with our employer over the ASCA. At the time of the last co-presidents’ report, the Branch was preparing a case for facilitated bargaining. Facilitation took place in November 2011 and resulted in a settlement that resolved the principal point of disagreement: the disposition of the policies governing promotion, research and study leave, and disciplinary procedures. The union agreed to the withdrawing of these policies from the ASCA in exchange for clauses (clause 2.6 and Schedule 2, clause 3) setting out the principles for TEU participation in their review and revision.

The Professional Staff collective agreement was also settled in mediated bargaining in November 2011 for the same longer term to June 2013. Included in these outcomes were the undertaking for union representatives to meet with the VC to discuss appropriate salary increases in 2012 before offers are made to all staff, a new annual salary review process referring to development as well as performance, and a renewed commitment from the employer to the developing a fair, objective and transparent remuneration model for professional staff.

We have overseen the implementation of both these collective agreements this year, meeting collegially with HR managers as needed. This process has gone smoothly until recently, when the Vice Chancellor notified the union of his intention to review and revise the Academic Grades, Standards and Criteria Policy. Regrettably, from TEU’s point of view, the Vice Chancellor has failed to comply with the provisions of clause 2.6. The union has sought legal advice and has notified the employer of this breach of contract. Despite our urgings, the VC has told us that he does not believe his actions are in breach of the agreement and that he intends to continue. We have instructed the TEU’s solicitor with regard to litigation as well as working with members on how they want to respond to the VC’s actions. At present, we have a date scheduled for mediation before the Employment Authority and hope for a satisfactory outcome.

The branch successfully conducted and concluded negotiations for a collective agreement for professional teaching fellows (PTFs). These negotiations proceeded positively and resulted in a settlement, which is currently before members for ratification. The new agreement contains a number of improvements over the existing individual agreements PTFs had been on, so much so that we have agreed to its inclusion in the existing ASCA as an additional schedule.

TEU representatives continue to meet with Human Resources on developing the interim Professional Staff annual salary review process, to fill the gap left by the former GSASR and fit in with the provisions of the collective. Various university policies have been reviewed by HR and signed off successfully by the Staff Advisory Committee to reflect the change in status from General to Professional staff, including the amalgamated Eye Tests policy for Academic and Professional staff. The Unisafe collective agreement was concluded shortly after last year’s branch AGM at the end of September, with an eighteen-month term to 31 March 2013.

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Restructurings and Reviews:

One of the greatest challenge the branch has faced this year has been a series of restructurings. These restructurings have involved the ending of the Centre for Continuing Education (in response to cuts in government funding, senior management reports) and the breaking up of the Centre for Academic Development (management cites ‘inefficiences’ in its organization). The Faculty of Arts is currently engaging a working party of Heads of Department to report on the prospects for a reorganization of the faculty, and the Faculty of Education has begun a process of restructuring. The Branch has worked with members in affected areas to make submissions and to see that staff made redundant have been treated in accordance with the redundancy clauses of the ASCA and PSCA.

Faculty Administration Review (FAR).

As part of their annual plan for 2012, Human Resources is initiating a wide-ranging review of the ways in which the various faculties organize their professional staff. As HR reports, this review aims at enhancing the University’s international standing by achieving greater efficiencies in professional staff structures while creating clearer paths for advancement. This review is scheduled to proceed over the next year with implementation beginning in May 2013. TEU will be paying close attention to this large-scale restructuring, and making sure that any staff whose positions may be made redundant will be treated in accordance with the redundancy and redeployment clauses of the PSCA.

Participating in University Governance:

The Branch has worked to assert the right of university staff to participate in the governance of the University this year by promoting and endorsing TEU members standing for university committees at every level, from Faculty to Senate. Under new clauses agreed to in the Academic and Professional staff collectives, TEU has two additional representatives in the Vice-Chancellor’s Staff Advisory Committee, giving us new opportunities to monitor and contribute to policy review and development.

Health and Safety:

The Branch has sought at several levels to address ongoing health and safety concerns at the University. This includes better representation and communication across faculty committees, addressing access to health services on campus, and working with HR to implement recommendations from health and safety reviews carried out in 2010.

Of particular concern is the prevention of bullying and harassment on campus, for all members of the campus community. The TEU National Women’s Committee launched in August the Mana@Work web site, http://bullyfreeworkplaces.org.nz/, which will be developed as a hub for harassment prevention contacts, events, and resources for creating a positive workplace culture in tertiary education institutions. The branch encourages members having problems with bullying or harassment to talk to a union delegate or contact the University Mediation Service in the Fisher Building for impartial, confidential advice and assistance.

Draft Strategic Plan Submission:

One of the most important of our undertakings this year was the Branch’s submission on the draft Strategic Plan. Developed over a three-month period by a ten-member working party, the eighteen-page document offers a critique of the draft Plan and a vision for our institution as a leading public university. Elements of the submission found their way into the final Strategic Plan, perhaps most importantly the


call for a ‘distributed model of leadership’ at the University. In a recent meeting of members of the branch executive and the Human Resources leadership team, the head of HR expressed her admiration of the submission and stated her desire to see it as a ‘living document’ informing HR-TEU discussions through the term of the next Strategic Plan.

Outreach and Recruitment:

Recruitment has been an important area of activity for us this year. In accordance with the decision of delegates to last year’s National Conference to rely upon our own efforts rather than contracting with an outside recruitment service, we have developed a recruitment strategy that emphasized outreach, contact, and follow-up with potential new members. Thus far this year, we have conducted recruitment ‘blitzes’ in Student Administration and the Library. The experience and contacts made with staff have been positive, but so far we are managing to just maintain our existing numbers and are not on schedule to reach the December 2012 target for the branch of 1457 current members. In light of Conference’s decision last year to not outsource recruitment, it is clear that we must devote greater time and resources if we are to build our membership and so enter 2013 with a solid base for contract negotiations.

A new area of outreach and recruitment centers on Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). The Branch has undertaken a series of meetings with GTAs with the aim of learning about the issues of concern to them, engaging in the work of the union, and working with them to improve their working conditions. Graduate Teaching Assistants have articulated concerns around the lack of timeliness in the issuing of their contracts, lack of clarity in certain aspects of their contracts, and workload. Early on in this effort, it became clear that GTAs, both those are members of the union and those who are not, have felt ignored, which helps to explain the very low numbers of GTA members at present. In making contact and taking up GTA concerns with Human Resources, we hope to increase GTA membership and so build our TEU community in the present and build the foundation for future membership as these individuals complete their degrees and, hopefully, find permanent academic positions in New Zealand.

Delegate Structure:

The Branch returned to developing and extending the delegate structure this year after time away from it due to last year’s contract dispute. The Branch organizers have held two training days and have recruited 8 new delegates, making a total of 40 branch delegates overall.

Union Support:

Branch members were active in supporting the Maritime Union in its dispute with the Ports of Auckland and locked-out ANZCO CMP workers late last year and earlier this year. The Branch organized support on picket lines at the Port and contributed monetary assistance through the NZCTU to locked out freezing works families.

Engagement with Student Activism:

The Branch has been actively engaged with student activism this year. This engagement has arisen out of student support for the union in last year’s dispute over the ACSA. The Branch has provided speakers and sausage sizzles for student rallies protesting the Voluntary Student Membership Bill and the Government’s 2012 budget. The Branch also contributed $250 to assist Guillaume Legault, a leader in the ongoing Quebec student strike, to travel to New Zealand on a speaking tour. We view this engagement with and support of peaceful student protest around matters affecting tertiary education as important to the union’s advocacy for our sector.

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Public Events:The Branch hosted a series of public events from late 2011 to mid-2012. These events have included a public lecture by David Robinson in February and the Speak-Up Forum on Tertiary Education as well as a series of teach-ins on current events relating to labor and student-activism. We also had the opportunity to host the launch of a book by Auckland graduate Cybele Locke on union activism in Aotearoa NZ (Workers in the Margins) with Helen Kelly (NZCTU President) as a guest speaker. Through these events the Branch has contributed to the National TEU’s ‘Speak Up for Education’ campaign, has lent support to the work of sister unions, and has raised its profile in the University community

Roland Brownlee, Co-President (Professional)

Paul Taillon, Co-President (Academic)

University of Auckland


Victoria University of Wellington5 October 012

Based on the Branch president’s report to TEU Victoria Universitys branch AGM


New branch organisers Nicki Wilford & Phillip Dyhrberg have hit the ground running and are doing •a great job. It has been a learning curve and I am grateful for their help over this past year & look forward to working with them in the coming year.

Bargaining four collectives: General, Academic, and Research Staff as well as the Collage of •Education collective the out comes in brife bellow:

We have a two year term with union benefit for both years at 1.2%. 1.

We have kept the 30 day employment, the terms and conditions of new employees.2.

Once again it will not create any 90-day trial periods for new employees during the term of 3. the agreement.

The big one is the team won an extra week of paid parental leave and an agreement 4. from the university to allow employees who have children at any of the University-based childcare centers, to sacrifice a portion of salary to pay for the childcare (thus saving tax),

“This is a positive agreement that protects many union members from bad employment law and gives more opportunities for working families,” said Nicki Wilford. To which I agree whole heartily.

Thank you to Nanette Cormack (Lead Advocate) Nicki Wilford (Advocate), Sarah Proctor-Thomson (Academic Rep) & Des Kelly (Genenral Staff Rep) Roger Harvey (Education Rep)

We have as part of bargaining a working party for the general staff salary scales. This was in •responce to our onging requests for informaton around the technicians workload and salery scale review.

We now have Roger Harvey as our recruitment officer and have had a good response to his work •so far. We are looking at using the union benefit as a recruitment tool. Along with an event for academic members something like our general staff day lunch; sometime before the end of the year. The union benefit has worked; we had 30 people sign up in the week after agreement was reached

Composion of concils: we have had a meeting on the 23rd August organised by staff representatives •on the Victoria University Council meeting to discuss plans by the Minister of Tertiary Education to change who sits on university councils. Which was well attened and helped pepole get there heads around this idea & to voice their concerns. We are looking at following Aukland universtiy branch lead and indoreing TEU members for positions


Committee meetings: have/had every third Thursday 12pm: We now have meeting agendas out •with time to plan and action things with people identified to look after and move any project etc. to completion. With reporting we do not necessary go over them individually as we put them out with the agenda to be read. Most of the time this means that the questions are asked directly through email etc. and only a key issue are brought forward to the next meeting or in general business if necessary. So in sort better per planning of meetings has meant better out comes. Example is our AGM agenda

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Branch Exec : have/had the first Wednesday of the month •

HR: Generally on the last Thursday of the month apart from when we are in Bargaining.•

VC: we have had two meetings with the VC so far and two more are planned •

We had only Tania go Te Toi Ahurangi Hui which she enjoyed•

Pacific: We had Cherie and Teresia go to the “Speak Up for Pacific Education and Recognition” •Fono in Auckland. They have come back all fired up and rearing to go we are working on an event for members and non-members as a recruitment activity. They are having lunch with Pacifica members with the support of TEU as a recruitment tool and support net work

TEU/AVUW Breakfast 27th April: Thank you to the guest speaker Gill Greer, discussing ‘Women •and Equality: From Global Rhetoric to Local Reality’ this was a very popular and almost need more space than we had.

President’s forum: Over all it was a great couple of days and I have come away with some good •resources, renewed energy and we have a lot to look forward to in the next couple of years. We also are doing more Promotion/Recruitment/support events than some with our general staff Bar BQ, suffrage day breakfast and the promotion workshop etc. The key is not to get complacent.

May Day Dinner was well attend and a lot of fun had by all•

May Day: Promotion Workshop for Academic Woman all levels. Once again a hit; we had 12 •participants. Thank you Suzanne McNabb for your hard work.

VC Forums: We asked for question time and compiled a set of question to be asked. We got a •good turnout giving the questions to the VC first he answered most of them in his presentation.

General staff day: we sent a card and a mini chocolate bar to all general staff to thank them for •their hard work. There was a good response to this and we have had some inquires in to joining the union from it. Thank you to all who helped put the cards and chocolates into envelops etc. in particular Dayna Kosega. We ran our lunch time event which from the comments bellow was a hit.

Guest speaker was brilliant Ken Gordon •

Food was excellent (plentiful) •

Cutting of the cake was special to see the longest union members at VUW. (Did Kevin •Duggan & ??? add up to over 100 years of membership? DOH! )

A real tribute to you all, glad we stayed for the questionnaire as our team would have •taken off when this was great information sharing & understanding our Union TEU

MC – opening karakia & closing – Matu Stevens•

Quiz/cake cutting -yahoo whanau you so nailed it.•

Thank you to Suzanne McNabb & Nanette Cormack from National office and Nicki Wilford & Dayna Kosega, MC Matu Stevens and the committee members for there help with this event. A big Thank you to our guest speaker Major General (retired) Ken Gordon OBE

Woman’s suffrage day: once again our annual event was a hit. Thank you to Dolores Janiewski •(Woman’s Rep to branch committee & AVUW Chairperson), Kevin, Nicki & Dayna & to the guest speaker Dr Judy McGregor on the topic of Sex and Power: 2012 Report Card

AGM: was well attend, we had two more come forward for conference rep’s Selena Shaw General •staff and Annemarie Jutel Academic staff, the nomination for the general staff rep was excepted (Selena Shaw) and we have kept a academic rep in Sarah Procter-Thomson. We will have four new people to conference this year the two above and Des Kelly from general staff and Alex Potanin academic staff. We vote to endorse the staff reps for university council who are TEU members. We also are supporting meetings with the candidates to help them and to bring this issue to the front of people’s minds


Additional work to do/work in progress etc.

Speak up for education: we are looking to do some work around “Academic Freedom” and having an •event something like the General staff day lunch to promote this sometime in October

Academic leave Police: working party on Academic leave Police has come up with a new one. Thank •you Alex Potanin for your on going work on our behalf.

PDCP within the university being used to discipline, reline job disruptions, increase workload and •other uses for which they are not designed. Something we are still working on.

Looking at how the PaEE reports recommendations are being implemented and how this is being •reported on. This has been a struggle with bargaining taking so long we have not had the contact or the normal meetings with HR to discuss these types of issues.

We are also looking in to why there is a push for non-academic people to go on to individual •contracts when they are promoted and why there is a different threshold for when this happens throughout the university.

Conduct Policy: we are working with HR on this and will go out for another round of conciliation •shortly.

The assets sale petition drive is still going and we are just over half way to our target of 800 •signatures.

We have been asked by the NWC to put forward submissions on the 26 weeks paid parental leave •bill.

Work on an endorsement police for candidates to boards etc. within the university that are •Members of the TEU

Additional remarks

We have a small, committed committee that appears to be a lot more motivated and on the go. This has helped move projects and events along this year; better than in the past (knock on wood) having a good team has helped a lot.

Yours in solidarity

Frances Matheson

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The University of Waikato14 September 2012

Introduction

On the whole this year has been fairly quiet on the redundancy front.

Luckily our domestic enrolments have done well with the exception of two Faculties.

Recruitment for International Students remains a worry across the board. The reorganisation of Waikato International has been a disaster because a considerable gap developed once it became clear that those departing were not going to be replaced immediately. It is about time that somebody takes responsibility for this.

The TEU is deeply concerned that our international student recruitment efforts remain below average. Unfortunately there is no consultation with academic and general staff about this. This has to change. We are planning a special meeting of our members about international recruitment.

Temporary appointments

The Pathways College has a number of ‘temporary appointments’. Several of our members who have been on the staff for some time, were suddenly laid off at the start of this year. Very shortly afterwards two new appointments were advertised. It was argued that the reason was a deficit of over $ 300,000. When this deficit was questioned it disappeared overnight. We have issued formal grievances for the members who were laid off. We are very unhappy with the manner in which Pathway College is dealing with its staff.

Academic freedom

This is fast becoming one of the most important issues on our campus. Over the last few years we have dealt with several cases. One was fairly minor and quickly resolved. Two involved a major crisis both in the TEU and in the University. Two took over one 18 months to resolve to our satisfaction.

The latest issue involves an attempt by a COD and Dean to restrict the academic freedom of one of our senior academics. While the Vice Chancellor and Deputy Vice Chancellor have made it very clear where they stand on ‘academic freedom’, it appears that senior academic staff, in this case a Dean and COD have other ideas. It is a case where the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. This is an intolerable situation. We have clearly indicated that the Dean and COD should withdraw a certain instruction, failing this we will have no choice but to take the matter further and issue a formal grievance, leading first to mediation and, if this does not work, to a formal labour court hearing. Unfortunately this would give wide publicity to the case at hand, a matter we wish to avoid in the interests of all concerned.

The other two major cases referred to had one important procedural issue in common, which is the manner in which the Vice Chancellor delegates such important matters to either a Pro VC, the Deputy VC or a Dean. The problem in these cases is that in trying to resolve the issues at

hand, the senior academic staff having breached academic protocol, are allowed to deal with the issues themselves. One can imagine what happens. These staff dig in, will not give an inch and the crisis accelerates to the detriment of the whole University, leading to a situation where the issues can only be resolved in the labour court.


Progress and cooperation

In some cases we have resolved serious issues with the full cooperation of the relevant Dean and Human Resources. We hope these cases are a harbinger of things to come.

Moving of the TEU office

The TEU has vacated its old offices and moved into a more spacious office opposite Oranga (next door to Waikato Print). We are grateful to the University for their cooperation and look forward to many more TEU members popping into the office for a chat with our staff.

TEU committee, TEU organiser and TEU regional administraor

The TEU Committee consists of 16 members:

Ext. No. Email

President Dov Bing Political Science 4533 Dovbing

Vice President Bill Cochrane Labour Studies 1023 Billc

Treasurer Grant Harris WMS Student Centre 6091 granth

Secretary Anne Ferrier-Watson Library 507 annefw

Mark Dawson-Smith Pathways College 5607 markrds

Andrea Haines Student Learning 6078 ash1

Rod Arnold SASD Halls of Residence 4350 rjarnold

Sayeeda Bano WMS Economics 4931 sbano

Claire Guthrie SASD Academic Admin 4447 claireg

Beate Jones Humanities 6173 bjones

Miao Fan WMS Student Centre 4787 fanm

Andrea Bather WMS Accounting 8948 andreac

General staff Rep Annie Barker Chemistry 4392 abarker

Women’s Sector Rep Pip Bruce Ferguson TDU 4116 Pip

Co-opted Tracey Morgan WcEL 5196 traceym

Co-opted Stan Jones Screen & Media 8362 sjones

Tumu Arataki Cheri Waititi FEDU Arts & Language 6265 panda

There is a good balance of academic and general staff and virtually every faculty is represented. We have regular Committee meetings and we try to act as quickly as possible to help our members with advice or legal help. Most of the time a quick word by our president or vice president will solve the problem.

I wish to thank the Committee for their contribution, particularly the office holders, and sector representatives. Special thanks to the outgoing treasurer Grant Harris.

Megan Morris our TEU Organiser is now working not only on the Waikato campus but also for the Polytechnic. This is a hard task and it is felt she is very much overworked. Nevertheless she does a sterling job and we appreciate her commitment. Anne-Marie Rata replaces Toni O’Sullivan as the regional administrator. My thanks to Toni for her service to the TEU and to Megan and Anne-Marie for excellent work they continue to do.

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Social scene on campus

The coffee outlets, food vendors in front of the shops, downstairs Oranga etc. have proved to be a tremendous success. Undergraduate, graduate, Doctoral students, general and academic staff are getting together for a coffee or lunch. It is the first time in many years that the University has succeeded in creating a successful social scene on campus. Those responsible deserve our gratitude. Brave, bravo, bravissimo!

Professor Dov Bing

TEU Waikato President


Weltec01 june 2012


The issue of tutors signing off student work as Licenced Building practicianers has been resolved and the branch appreciate the efforts of Sharn in achieving an outcome acceptable to most of the staff effected.


AGM set for week beginning 22 October.

Latest branch meeting focused on the upcoming Womens Fiesta. We are waiting for a little more information and will present to the branch at the AGM.

The last meeting of the consultative committee was cancelled due to sickness and teaching commitments of the committee members.


Branch committee meetings are held monthly or when the need arises.

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Whitireia NZ


fter three years of negotiations a two year collective was finally signed in Nov 2011(expires November 2013)

However the three most committed branch officials then felt burnt out and stepped back from any extra branch involvement this year The year has consisted of rebuilding the branch and recruiting new active members for the committee. We held a meeting on 28th September and now have two co-presidents, Phil Hawes and Sandra Waayer and a branch secretary, Alex Wordsworth.

This will allow the branch to be more actively engaged with national campaigns and strategies

There have been a variety of personal casework at Whitireia ranging from the low level to the more complex situations(reported in case logs)


Lunch meetings on a 6 weekly cycle to discuss member issues and involve more members in the •branch

NWO, Suzanne Mc Nabb has spoken to a meeting and planning has started on a joint Women’s •Fiesta with Weltec and TOPNZ

Visits to all Wellington campuses with the Organiser and an active TEU member•

Clinics held regularly ay the main campus for any TEU member to come to and discuss ,problems, •issues, concerns and ideas

Regular meetings with the Te Uepū rep, James Houkāmau, who is also a member of Te Toi •Ahurangi

Meetings with previous committee members to clarify changes to the collective and how to •inform members

Regular meetings with HR, the TEU Organiser and various members in attendance•

Regular email updates to members from the Organiser•

Additional remarks

We will be requesting posters/leaflets etc. and other to raise the TEU profile at all of the •Wellington Campuses and publicize upcoming events

We will be working towards having some membership involvement on the planning committee •for fiesta.

We will be running a session on leave with input from national office•


23rd Nov meeting where national president will talk about issues facing the sector at a lunch •time meeting


Planned visits with the new co-presidents to all campuses in Wellington area•

Regular meetings with HR and various members(we are currently timetabling regular HR meetings •where TEU organizer and co-presidents will meet with HR)

Development of a recruitment plan and visiting schedule •

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Wintec15 October 2012

The year that was

Members of Branch Executive:

Branch President - Susan Bennett •

Vice President – Martin Lockwood •

Treasurer - Rowland Davies •

Membership Officer – Matt Foulkes•

Health and Safety Officer – Matt Foulkes•

Maori Representative – Te Aihurangi Tangiora •

Women’s representative – Tina Booth (left during term)•

Women’s Representative – Christina Gera•

Branch Officers•

Ed Corbett –School of Information Technology•

Beverley Taylor - School of Business •

Jacqui James – Team manager representative (left during term)•

Ruth Leonard – School of Education (left during term)•

Shilo Hayes – School of Education•

Dean Parr – School of Trades•

Joanna Clarke – Centre for Foundation Studies•

Co-opted•

Glennis Birks – School of Health•

Ross Kendall – Centre for Foundation Studies•

Branch Organiser - Megan Morris•

Branch activities

SECA Negotiations

On 20 December 2011, after long and uncomfortable negotiations, we settled a collective employment agreement with our employers at Wintec. The terms of settlement were ratified by a clear majority of members in our e-ballot. The negotiating team were: Irena Brorens, Megan Morris, Susan Bennett and Martin Lockwood. Thanks also to Par Johansson and Norrie Durie who attended as observers near the end of the process. It was a long and difficult road to the settlement and I think it is fair to say that


members of TEU felt battered and bruised by the protracted and divisive nature of the negotiations and the court processes that had gone before. It is an due to the collective will and strength of members as well as their reluctance to inconvenience students, that we achieved a collective agreement that members can be confident will protect the working conditions which most impact on their ability to deliver high quality education. The key changes involved a removal of the concept of “discretionary leave” for new members. Existing members were able to “grandparent” their existing leave conditions, (66% chose to do this) or were able to choose to sell one week of leave per year for 2012, and 2013 for a 2% salary increase in each year. In addition there was a 2% salary increase for 2012 and for 2013, and a lump sum payment of $1200. Teaching maxima days increased to 194 with no change to TTH.

TEU Organiser

Megan Morris is the local TEU organiser and has contributed many hours to attending meetings at Wintec over the last 12 months. Megan is based at Waikato University and is the TEU organiser for both institutions; she has prepared her own report for this meeting.

Departmental Reviews

The two predominant issues where members sought support, advice and assistance are organisational change and workload. Reviews that have resulted in redundancy for members have occurred in: Built Environment, Capability Development, and Te Whui Whui Maori Counselling. In addition there have been a number of reorganisations in areas which have changed reporting lines for members. The most prominent of these was the changes to regional delivery. We are still watching that space as the changes embed for the staff involved. The changes that may result from the announcement of the development of CBITE (the merger of School of IT and School of Business) will also be scrutinised during 2013.

HR Meetings

Fortnightly meetings have been held with Human Resources over the year as a forum to discuss staff and employer issues and concerns. These meetings have ensured that issues are addressed as early as possible and enable us to provide members with early information about organisational plans and projects.

The branch president has been a member of the Wintec ‘Part-time ASM’ review project team. Unfortunately one of the recommendations added to this report related to increasing the use of hourly paid staff in all areas to 5%. As promoting this type of ‘precarious employment’ this is in direct opposition to the views of the president and the wider union membership I have chosen to stand down from that project team.

Advocacy

There have been advocacy meetings with individual staff and their managers over the year. These have produced favourable outcomes for union members. I offer sincere thanks to Megan Morris for her work with members. There have been reduced numbers of disciplinary matters this year that have involved the union, however, those that have occurred have had significant consequences for the members involved and for the teams they were part of. A number of members have chosen to negotiate ‘exit’ packages rather than participate in processes they had little faith in. The organiser and the president have made a written submission in one area where we felt an outside organisation was negatively impacting on the working conditions of TEU members.

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Membership

Currently we have 130 members a drop from 142 in January 2012. The change has related to either restructuring, leaving Wintec, or translations to formal IEA as a result of the CEA. (We had a small number of people who had joined the union when there was no CEA and their translations were in some cases quite complicated) Membership numbers at Wintec do cause me concern, and Megan and I have been working to try and increase the profile of TEU in the institute. The best advertisement for our union is other union members.

National Involvement

Susan Bennett served on the National TEU ITP Sector Group and attended the Branch Presidents Forum in February. Susan Bennett, Martin Lockwood and Joanna Clarke attended TEU National Conference in November last year.

Acknowledgements

The branch executive has done a great job over a very difficult year, and I wish to thank them for the remarkable job they do in supporting me. They continue to give their time to the union on top of their academic workload.

We have two of executive members standing down at this meeting.

I wish to thank Glennis Birks for all the work she has done for the union over the years. Her participation has been significant, from executive member to branch president and national committee representative.

In addition I wish to give a huge vote of thanks to Martin Lockwood who is also standing down. I know Martin is only doing that so he can concentrate on his current health issues and on getting well. He has been my branch vice-president for all of the time I have been president and I’m not quite sure what the role will be like without him. I have valued his quiet, reflective style which has been a great temper to my more impulsive style. Martin has been a determined voice of reason and has been able to assist me in many meetings when I have become frustrated with the views shown by managers and others. I wish him well for the future and I know all of us want him to carry our love and strength with him in the next few months.

Susan Bennett

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teu branch reports 2012

Documents

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branch event

branch activities

branch vote

mediationthe branch

teu branch aoraki polytechnic

executive management

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