We Are The University

[TEU-academic] ] TEU update

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Fri Dec 08 2023 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

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Tēnā koutou katoa

Medical Academic collective members. The vote on the variation to the MACA is now closed. You may well have been advised of the result, but we will report the results as they are made available to us.

(Please get involved in) Branch Planning Day. Covid affected so many important members of the branch last week that we postponed the annual branch planning day until Thursday 14 December at Old Government House. But the many challenges facing us have not got sick and died. We will review how the last two years have gone, what is coming up next year, and what your branch committee can do to better support organising and membership efforts in your workplace. You are very welcome to attend between 3pm and 5pm if you would like to get more involved with your branch activities. Please email Noel at noel.zeng@auckland.ac.nz if you are interested.

But before this, we invite members to an end of year celebration: 3pm-5pm, Tuesday 12 December at OGH. You should have received an invitation from Noel for this informal get-together for you and your fellow members. There will be a pub quiz with prizes! Light food and drinks will be provided. Please come; it would be great to see colleagues there after the year that we have had. Please respond to the RSVP to help with catering planning.

Another reason to join the TEU. The 2023 Gender pay gap - The University of Aucklandhttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/about-us/about-the-university/equity-at-the-university/equity-information-for-staff/gender-equity/gender-pay-gap.html shows an overall Gender Pay Gap (GPG) of 10.8 per cent, which is more than two percentage points worse than the national average. This large gap is not isolated to pockets of the university. The report details gender pay gaps for academic and professional staff as well as those with and without permanent roles at the University. The survey does yet not include nonbinary staff, nor does it yet consider combined effects of gender and ethnicity and other demographic variables. On Wednesday the VC stated that “[t]he findings are not acceptable and make it clear that new approaches are needed to address the gap. With data providing a detailed understanding of these pay gaps, and what perpetuates them, we will make renewed efforts to address structural and systemic issues.”

The Siouxsie Wiles case is not just about Siouxsie Wiles. As this podcast reveals, the threat of violence that Siouxsie faces is shared, to one degree or another, by academics (often women, often indigenous, often both), throughout academia. We know, and the employer knows, that Siouxsie is not the only victim at this university. According to news reports of the court case, the VC herself has been a victim. Academic Aunties’ The Violence We Face addresses this in the North American context, but the similarities are clear: academicaunties.com.

Te Kupenga o MAI (Maori and Indigeneous students) is a flagship initiative of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. Liam Rātana writes: “It is more than just a support network – it’s a movement. The stories of its members paint a vivid picture of MAI’s transformative impact.” The Māori pathway being carved in Aotearoa’s academic institutes | The Spinoffhttps://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/04-12-2023/the-maori-pathway-being-carved-in-aotearoas-academic-institutes?itm_source=spinoff-homepage-layouts&itm_medium=card-1

Te Tiriti o Waitangi. ACT’s David Seymour wants to “debate what our founding document means in the modern age”. TEU member Margaret Mutu (Māori Studies) reminds him that there is “no need for ‘principles’ because there are not two treaties. There is only one, Te Tiriti o Waitangi”. Enhancing the mana of Te Tiriti - The University of Aucklandhttps://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2023/12/05/enhancing-mana-of-te-tiriti.html. See also On The Government's Assault On Maori | Scoop Newshttps://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL2312/S00010/on-the-maori-protests.htm

“The long-standing opposition to te reo Māori … is also a central feature of our colonial history. And it is starkly apparent in the anti-te reo Māori rhetorichttps://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/133346834/incoming-government-to-change-branding-to-english-and-repeal-treaty-clauses emanating from the current coalition Government, particularly, its two minor parties, ACT and NZ First, albeit with the active obeisance of the supposedly dominant partner, National.” TEU member Stephen May (Te Puna Wānanga/ School of Māori and Indigenous Education) on monolingualism’s holdouts. OK (monolingual) boomer, you might be having your final moment in the sun | The Posthttps://www.thepost.co.nz/a/nz-news/350124740/ok-monolingual-boomer-you-might-just-be-having-your-final-moment-sun?utm_source=stuff_website&utm_medium=stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuff

Evidence is no match for her opinion. "Advice is advice, the Government is the Government and I am here to do what the people voted for." Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden’s response to a leaked Cabinet paper that fair pay agreements are doomed under this government, despite --or because-- clear evidence and advice that they will disproportionately affect women, young people, Māori and Pasifika. Minister defends decision to ignore leaked Treasury advice about FPAs msn.com; The Bulletin: Cabinet paper on Fair Pay Agreements leaked | Dec 5 2023 | The Spinoffhttps://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/05-12-2023/the-bulletin-cabinet-paper-on-fair-pay-agreements-leaked

Planned obsolescence in the digital age. TEU member Alex Sims (Business and Economics) and Trish O’Sullivan (Massey U), on product reliability and longevity as an environmental issue and a consumer right. https://theconversation.com/too-many-products-are-easier-to-throw-away-than-fix-nz-consumers-deserve-a-right-to-repair-216334https://theconversation.com/too-many-products-are-easier-to-throw-away-than-fix-nz-consumers-deserve-a-right-to-repair-216334%0d

Satire meets reality. Company wellness seminar teaches mindful acceptance of pay cuts theonion.com

Reminders going into the summer break.

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Barry Hughes, PhD 302.363 Science Centre School of Psychology University of Auckland / Waipapa Taumata Rau