[TEU-academic] ] TEU update
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Fri Dec 15 2023 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)
Tēnā koutou katoa
End of year celebration. It was great to see old members, new members, colleagues, comrades at our end-of-year social gathering on Tuesday. We have had a long year, and it was great to see friendly faces with happy voices, senses of humour, intelligence and wit. Noel spoke about the year that was and the year ahead, and Jennifer and Paul ran an excellent quiz (with a union theme). I’ve already forgotten who won.
Our take on 2023. We love what we do. We are all professionals with a strong commitment to public higher education. We value our academic freedom and insist on being able to exercise it. No one works harder than academic and professional staff to ensure that students succeed and that their degrees and diplomas are earned and valued.
This year may have been long and challenging –what with bargaining and COVID; the sight of most other universities in Aotearoa resorting to cutting staff jobs in the face of financial difficulty; the rise of ChatGPT et al and the commensurate decline of academic integrity; the election of a coalition government which has been eager to show who is boss …
TEU members have made valuable contributions to larger university matters, on issues as diverse as the Curriculum Transformation project, Health and Safety, workload, and academic standards.
But we have to sustain our kaupapa: working to grow local union membership, delegate networks, and activism; standing with those in precarious positions; empathising with those struggling with illness or nonwork issues; supporting members in dealings with managers and HR; protecting those whose workload is seen to have few limits; etc...
Few things worry our senior management and HR more than a self-organised union workforce that is growing in number, in determination, and in strength. Our branch grew to over 1500 members in 2023, and growing further must be a high priority in 2024. We will be here long after they have gone. Please continue to have discussions in your workplace that encourage non-members to see the material and social benefits that TEU membership offers.
This was a year during which our employer oversaw regression rather than progress in some important areas. We reported last week on 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 which shows a GPG of 10.8% --more than two percentage points worse than the national average. But we should not forget the 2023 Employee Experience Surveyhttps://www.staff.auckland.ac.nz/en/human-resources/university-culture-values/staff-surveys.html. Inter alia, the survey revealed that only 32% of academic staff and 57% of professional staff (47% combined) think their workload is reasonable. What’s more, only 38% see any evidence of steps to ensure that workloads become more manageable. More staff are not satisfied with their advancement opportunities than are satisfied. Nonbinary staff, rainbow staff and staff with disabilities each report even more negative experiences. Despite the active indigenisation of the university, workload satisfaction has declined for Māori staff to 33% and their belief in the purpose and aspirations of the university are down 12 percentage points. Less than half of Pacific staff feel their workload is reasonable, less than half feel energised to “go the extra mile,” and only 36% are satisfied with their advancement opportunities. What’s more, we now work in an environment in which fewer than half of us (49%) feel that we can respectfully voice our opinions “without fear of any negative impact”. And it is much worse in some faculties.
Can the TEU contribute to turning some of these sorry statistics around? We believe so. But we need to be invited to engage, or our membership needs to demand a place at the table. Our employer prefers to marginalise and ignore us. But increased strength --in number and voice-- will make this harder to do.
Branch Planning Day. Yesterday we had a branch planning day. We were very happy to welcome a number of delegates and supportive members from outside the branch committee. We had a productive day, discussing the items noted above, as well as others (bargaining will resume in 2024). We co-opted two new members to the Branch committee: Koro Tawa and Brent Burmester, both from the Business School. We are very happy to have them join us. The branch and I also agreed that I would return to the co-Presidency (Academic) until the next AGM.
The Siouxsie Wiles case is not just about Siouxsie Wiles. Earlier this week, an open letter, initiated by our colleagues Nicola Gaston, Virginia Braun, Cate Macinnis-Ng, and Helen Petousis-Harris and co-signed by 120 members of staff urged of the Council of the University of Auckland to provide immediate assurances regarding the safety of our colleagues engaged in their work for the university. (More details and the letter itself: More than 100 University of Auckland academics sign letter complaining of unsafe workplace - NZ Heraldhttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/more-than-100-university-of-auckland-academics-sign-letter-complaining-of-unsafe-workplace/WKMJEFQSHFD3BC4BGXOI5XFYXY/). As of this morning, Council has not responded –or even acknowledged receipt of the letter.
Medical Academic collective members. The vote to ratify the remuneration variation to the MACA was passed last week. Members on this collective should have received their updated salary and back pay in their pay this week. If members under this collective have any issues with this pay, please contact payroll/ HR in the first instance. Any further issues or questions, please contact nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz.
Results of the 2023 Council, Senate, and committee elections. Congratulations to all the successful candidates. And commiserations to those who were not elected. There is next time. And getting involved in the same agenda via the TEU might even have more impact. Results-of-the-2023-council-senate-committee-elections.htmlhttps://www.staff.auckland.ac.nz/en/news-events-and-notices/notices/notices-2023/quarter-4/results-of-the-2023-council-senate-committee-elections.html
Job cuts confirmed at Massey U. Massey University has gone ahead with a restructure that will cut jobs and courses. Major science cuts to go ahead at Massey University | Stuff.co.nzhttps://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/301027250/major-science-cuts-to-go-ahead-at-massey-university
TEU member Makarena Dudley (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu) (Psychology and Centre for Brain Research) says the Māori assessment of neuropsychological abilities (or Mana), available this week, will be integrated into Te Whatu Ora Health NZ for uptake by clinicians diagnosing mate wareware or dementia in Māori. Researchers launch tool to detect early dementia in Māori msn.com
“The new Prime Minister must step up, and stop this hubristic posturing” Dame Anne Salmond (Anthropology) on the Treaty debate: Māori and Pākehā think differently newsroom.co.nz
Social services funded by private investors? What could possibly go wrong? TEU member Tom Baker (Geography): The government hopes private investors will fund social services – the evidence isn't so optimistic theconversation.com
“This week a group of people in Wellington will begin the process of cutting off “Fair Pay” agreements in favour of pay rates being set by the ‘market’” but “The people promoting this do not have their pay set by ‘the market’ but by an administrative process which pays them without regard to affordability or performance.” Rob Campbell (Chancellor, AUT) on The case for strong and stable pay for all – not just for politicians newsroom.co.nz
Academic staff, Israel-Palestine, and academic freedom. An open letter is circulating online within New Zealand universities on the impact of the Gaza-Israel horrors on academic freedom here and elsewhere. The letter Open Letter on Academic Freedom - Google Docshttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1pUJDs4B9l34NZr_orDLk3cHrfMRawM_aLrulDSWmg70/edit is focussed primarily on the defence of academic freedom and states, in part, that such freedom “is an internationally recognised and legislative entitlement needed for teaching, learning, and research, particularly on contentious and contested topics. We stand together in condemning organisations that have sought to undermine this freedom in relation to the current situation in Israel and Palestine and we express our full solidarity with and support for educators and researchers who have faced attempts to inhibit and limit their scholarship on this topic.” Members are invited to read and add signatures if they wish. “Some researchers publish a new paper every five days, on average. Data trackers suspect not all their manuscripts were produced through honest labour.” Surge in number of ‘extremely productive’ authors concerns scientists nature.com
“The life of an academic lacks natural narrative momentum”. Therefore? How the Movie Professor Got Cancelled | The New Yorkerhttps://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/how-the-movie-professor-got-cancelled
This will be the last Update of the year. We wish all our colleagues a restorative holiday season and a beautiful summer break. We are grateful to those who have contributed to the Update by sharing information, insights and links; alerting us to issues, editing, reacting, and sharing with non-members; thanking us for giving their views some publicity, and for acting as a lightning rod for the complaints from HR. We hope that the Updates have served their primary purpose of keeping members informed and engaged. We always welcome feedback and suggestions for improving our communications for next year.
Reminders going into the summer break.
- 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 networks in 2024. The TEU has a number of designated member networks: General or Professional Staff; Academic Staff; U35 Staff; Rainbow; Tiakina Te Taiao (Climate); Women's; Te Uepū (Māori staff); Tangata Pasifika; Disabilities. The union would like to invite you to register for the network/s that you would like to be part of for 2024. (see last week’s Update for details). Please use this link to registerhttps://www.cognitoforms.com/NZTEU/_2024Networks.
- TEU delegate education in 2024. The TEU has also been refreshing and updating member education opportunities and as part of this programme of work we are trialling an alternative way of registering your interest in attending delegate training. These courses are open to all members who are active in branch committees, campaigns, activities/events, or elected to a national committee. You are entitled to paid time off work to attend these courses. (see last week’s Update for details.) Level 1: To register please click link herehttps://www.cognitoforms.com/NZTEU/DelegateTrainingL1EffectiveDelegatesAucklandThursday7March2024. Level 2: To register please click herehttps://www.cognitoforms.com/NZTEU/DelegateTrainingL2DelegatesBuildingAnOrganisedWorkplaceAucklandThursday15February2024.
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Barry Hughes, PhD 302.363 Science Centre School of Psychology University of Auckland / Waipapa Taumata Rau