[TEU-academic] ] TEU update
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Fri Nov 24 2023 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
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Medical Academics. You should have received from Nicole today an email regarding the offer from the employer. Please email her at nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz if you did not. Two online meetings will be running next week to discuss the offer, to which you also should have received an invitation:
- Tuesday 28th November 1-2pm https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting
Meeting ID: 475 050 385 140 Passcode: svAcyK
- Wednesday 29th November 4pm-5pm https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting
Meeting ID: 493 623 724 522 Passcode: okZcFa
The offer will be going to a member vote later next week.
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Siouxsie Wiles vs the employer. The case entered its third week. News reports, in approximate chronological order from late last week, are dropping off but... Dr Siouxsie Wiles case: University of Auckland rejects 'victim blaming mentality' towards microbiologist | Stuff.co.nzhttps://www.stuff.co.nz/national/301011791/dr-siouxsie-wiles-case-university-of-auckland-rejects-victim-blaming-mentality-towards-microbiologist; Microbiologist who was harassed during COVID pandemic sues university nature.com;
Massey U cuts: the staff and TEU have a smarter proposal. Scientists hope to save Massey University jobs with alternative to cuts | Stuff.co.nzhttps://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/301012360/scientists-hope-to-save-massey-university-jobs-with-alternative-to-cuts and Massey University staff present 'logical' alternative plan to job cuts | RNZhttps://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018916302/massey-university-staff-present-logical-alternative-plan-to-job-cuts
Save the date. The branch committee wishes to invite members to an end of year celebration. We have settled on 3pm-5pm, Tues 12 December at OGH. We will confirm these details by email invitation. It would be great to see members there after the year that we have had.
We have a three-legged government. TEU’s national office has worked to provide information as to what to expect, given the announcements of the coalition agreements (details herehttps://www.documentcloud.org/app?q=%2Bproject%3Anational-act-nz-first-coa-216035%20) and ministerial appointments.
Penny Simmonds (National, Invercargill) is Minister of Tertiary Education, but she is outside cabinet. She is a graduate of U Otago and was the chief executive of the Southern Institute of Technology (1997-2020).
Brooke van Velden (ACT, Tāmaki) is the Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety. According to Wikipedia, she studied economics and international trade at the University of Auckland and she graduated with a conjoint BA-BCom in 2016.
Below is a summary of items in the coalition agreement released today that may impact us:
From the National/ACT agreement: Employment
Repeal the Fair Pay Agreement regime by Christmas 2023.
Reform health and safety law and regulations.
Expand 90-day trials to apply to all businesses.
Consider simplifying personal grievances and in particular removing the eligibility for remedies if the employee is at fault, and setting an income threshold above which a personal grievance could not be pursued.
Maintain the status quo that contractors who have explicitly signed up for a contracting arrangement can’t challenge their employment status in the Employment Court. Education
Replace the Fees Free programme with a final year fees free policy with no change before 2025.
Amend the Education and Training Act 2020 such that tertiary education providers receiving taxpayer funding must commit to a free speech policy.
From the New Zealand First/National agreement: Employment and Immigration
Strengthen obligations on Jobseeker work ready beneficiaries to find work and make use of sanctions for non-compliance with work obligations and consider time limits for under-25s.
Improve the Accredited Employer Work Visa to focus the immigration system on attracting the workers and skills New Zealand needs.
Commit to moderate increases to the minimum wage every year.
Ensure Immigration New Zealand is engaged in proper risk management and verification to ensure migrants are filling genuine workforce needs.
Investigate the establishment of an “Essential Worker” workforce planning mechanism to better plan for skill or labour shortages in the long term.
Commit to enforcement and action to ensure those found responsible for the abuse of migrant workers face appropriate consequences.
Address and provide solutions for the long-expressed concern of the OECD into the lack of focus in New Zealand Immigration Policy. Education
Stop first year Fees Free and replace with a final year Fees Free with no change before 2025.
Maintain the Apprenticeship Boost scheme.
Refocus the curriculum on academic achievement and not ideology, including the removal and replacement of the gender, sexuality, and relationship-based education guidelines.
The walls that talk. Tūtahi Tonu wharenui receives emotional farewell after 40 years – Te Ao Māori News teaonews.co.nz; and Beloved campus marae enters deep slumber ahead of move | Stuff.co.nzhttps://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/133311091/beloved-campus-marae-enters-deep-slumber-ahead-of-move.
There is an award for doing this. $50,000 Critic and Conscience of Society Award 2024 Open for Applications | Scoop Newshttps://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED2311/S00035/50000-critic-and-conscience-of-society-award-2024-open-for-applications.htm. This year the award went to TEU member Dean Knight (Law, Te Herenga Waka/VUW) for his tireless work spearheading debate within areas of public law.
They said, they said. Student claims academic a ‘transphobic bigot’ in defamation case - judge suggests allegations ‘vexatious’ msn.com
“The best advice I’ve ever heard about rest also feels the most impossible: put it in your diary before anything else. Schedule it in, as deliberately as you would any other activity, before work colonises your entire consciousness.” Work has conquered every day of the week. How do we remain human in a world that worships toil? | Justine Toh | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/20/work-has-conquered-every-day-of-the-week-how-do-we-remain-human-in-a-world-that-worships-toil
Bossware. If you think surveillance culture in the workplace is new, think again | John Naughton | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/18/if-you-think-bossware-surveillance-culture-in-the-workplace-is-new-think-again
Despite evidence that animal experiments are unreliable predictors of human physiology and disease states, they remain the presumed “gold standard” in basic and preclinical research by the NIH and others within the research community. Scientists Send Letter to New Director of NIH, Urging Shift Away From Animal Use in Medical Research pcrm.org
Reminders:
- Professional staff. If you are starting a new role at the university between 1 November 2023 and 1 February 2024, or are offered an out-of-cycle pay increase during this time, please contact Nicole Wallace (nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz) with a copy of your letter of offer or memorandum and get advice before you sign it. If you have already signed such a document effective from 1 November on, you can still seek advice. Please send Nicole a copy. You can also see her during the office hours Friday 10am-2pm (see information below).
- Pay Equity. The TEU pay equity claim for administrative and library staff is active. This claim has the potential to affect as many as 900 UoA staff members. We are now moving into a new phase of the claim, where member involvement is very important. If you’ve received an email from TEU administrator Lucy Fowler about your role, make sure you’ve replied! If you are interested in more information, email Nicole or Lucy: nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz or lucy.fowler@teu.ac.nz.
- TEU office hours. Our organisers, Nicole and Andy, will be running open office hours on the City Campus every Friday from 10am till 2pm, in the TEU Office, Room 417, Level 4 of the Fisher Building (Building 804, 18 Waterloo Quadrant). Please feel welcome to drop in for advice or to catch up on TEU activities. They are still available at any other time on the phone or email Nicole: nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz, 027 438 7254 Andy: andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nz, 021 914046
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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