We Are The University

[TEU-academic] ] TEU update

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Fri Nov 03 2023 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

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Organisers’ caseloads. During times when our branch is not in bargaining or dealing with large-scale reviews, our organisers’ individual caseloads tend to pick up. Members are not always aware of the heavy caseloads carried by our organisers. You will appreciate these cases are confidential, but there are common denominators. Of the 17 current cases, five are in the Faculty of Business and Economics and five are in FMHS. Six cases are related to precarious work conditions.

Humans of the BC. We are happy to welcome Rachel Simon-Kumar (School of Population Health) back to the branch committee. She writes: “I have been at UoA 10 years to the month, but I worked briefly in the Social Science Faculty in the early 2000s. I’m on the BC because I believe that to be in the union means a responsibility of service and I am inspired by the dedication of those who continue to work for better conditions of their colleagues. In my spare time (when I have it), I indulge in my weakness for fiction - specifically espionage and crime genres – and Wordle.”

Ms Information reviewed. A RNZ review of the documentary on the love and hate visited on our colleague, Siouxsie Wiles, for giving away scientific knowledge in the public interest, during the pandemic and beyond: review-ms-information.https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/atthemovies/audio/2018913516/review-ms-information

We note also that Siouxsie will be court next week, doing legal battle with her (and our) employer on matters not unrelated to the themes of the documentary, including academic freedom and obligations. This case was in the media in early 2022 and has taken time to get to the hearing stage at the Employment Court. Siouxsie’s position is that the employer failed to adequately protect her in the course of her work providing public commentary on Covid-19. The employer denies breaching its statutory obligations and said Siouxsie was neither expected nor required to provide comment on Covid as part of her job, and that her public commentary had been undertaken in a private capacity. Read an overview herehttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/04/new-zealand-covid-experts-take-legal-action-against-employer-over-alleged-failure-to-protect-them-from-abuse.

The challenge to maintain world class university system. Peter Schwerdtfeger (Massey U), John Raine (AUT) et al on what is needed in Aotearoa. The challenge of sustaining a world-class university system | The Posthttps://www.thepost.co.nz/a/nz-news/350101987/challenge-sustaining-world-class-university-system?utm_source=stuff_website&utm_medium=stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuff.

Fair Pay agreements under threat. The incoming National government has said they will get rid of Fair Pay Agreements in their first hundred days. This legislation was introduced by the outgoing government to provide binding agreements with minimum employment standards across whole industries. This is important for sectors where employers’ efforts to keep costs to a minimum for contracts etc has resulted in employees’ wages being driven lower (the “race to the bottom”). Fair pay agreements for bus drivers, workers in hospitality and supermarkets, security officers, commercial cleaners, and early childcare workers are now under threat. Please sign the petition herehttps://link.nzctu.org.nz/click/1qye13kMpKEH2b.Q8Dkl8-nBWynz/gCgotdSb/3s/www.together.org.nz/keep_fair_pay_coming to keep fair pay for these workers.

What the change of government means for workplaces. TEU members Bernard Walker (UC), Danaë Anderson (VUW), and Julienne Molineaux (AUT) have a proposal. https://theconversation.com/nzs-workplace-rules-will-change-again-with-each-new-government-unless-we-do-this-216072. See also: Detroit Union Success Lays Path For NZ | Newsroomhttps://www.newsroom.co.nz/detroit-union-success-lays-path-for-new-zealand

What should intellectuals say about the Israel-Gaza tragedy? George Scialabba: As the conscience of society, writer-thinkers should not be swayed by prevailing political opinion in the Israel-Hamas conflict - 3 Quarks Dailyhttps://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2023/10/as-the-conscience-of-society-writer-thinkers-should-not-be-swayed-by-prevailing-political-opinion-in-the-israel-hamas-conflict.html#google_vignette. See also ‘Chilling effect’ preventing debate on Gaza | Times Higher Education THE and Opinion | Columbia and Princeton University Deans on How to Talk to One Another - The New York Times nytimes.com and The Fog of Art | Compact Maghttps://compactmag.com/article/the-fog-of-art

AI: existential risk or overblown conspiracy theory? AI pioneers Hinton, Ng, LeCun, Bengio amp up x-risk debate | VentureBeathttps://venturebeat.com/ai/ai-pioneers-hinton-ng-lecun-bengio-amp-up-x-risk-debate/ and Hinton, Bengio, among 24 expert signatories with policy-focused AI recommendations in new letter betakit.com

Reminders:

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Barry Hughes, PhD School of Psychology Faculty of Science Phone: +64 9 923 5265 Extension: 85265

Website: www.psych.auckland.ac.nzhttp://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/ Address: Science Centre, Building 302, Level 6, 23 Symonds Street, Auckland 1010 | Private Bag 920129, Auckland 1142, New Zealand