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Tēnā koutou katoa
Pay Equity claim meetings. Claims for low-paid university library, clerical, and administrative staff are underway, and your views are needed. The claims can only be assessed accurately if the real nature of your work is well understood. Job descriptions and process documents are not substitutes. Only you and your colleagues can describe in detail the actual work you do.
The TEU is running a series of meetings for members and non-members under the claim to:
- discuss what happens next with the pay equity claims;
- get key information about the real nature of your work;
- talk about the way your roles will be assessed;
- give advice on how to talk about your work in a way that communicates your responsibilities.
The following meetings will be held in March. Attend the meeting that works best for you. We have spread the meetings across campuses to make it more convenient, but feel free to attend whichever meeting you wish.
Wednesday 13 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Owen Glen Rm 260-223 City Campus Thursday 14 March 2024 1230 – 1330 ClockTower Rm 105-101 City Campus Monday 18 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Science Rm 303-257 City Campus Tuesday 19 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Engineering Rm 401-1202 City Campus Monday 25 March 2024 1230 – 1330 FMHS Bldg Rm 507-LG045 Grafton Campus Tuesday 26 March 2024 1230 – 1330 Northey – Law Rm 801-204 City Campus
Save the Date for our International Women’s Day breakfast event, with panel and discussion of the UoA Gender Pay Gap Report<https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2023/12/06/pay-gap-report.html> published late last year. Confirmed panellists include PVC Equity Cathy Stinear, Nicola Gaston, and Sereana Naepi. Date: Friday, 8 March. Time: 8-9 a.m. Location: Old Government House Dining Room. All TEU members are welcome, and an invitation will go out early next week.
Professional Staff Annual Salary Review Appeals. Appeals of last year’s salary review (i.e., the increase determined through Tupu) are open now until 5pm Friday 23 Feb. Details on raising an appeal are here<https://www.staff.auckland.ac.nz/en/news-events-and-notices/notices/notices-2024/quarter-1/annual-salary-review-appeal-process.html>. We encourage you to consider applying if there has been a (significant) failure of process or if your Tupu grade is at odds with the evidence. You can also talk to one of our organisers if you have concerns over how Tupu has been applied in your case.
Jobs and New Zealand universities. By the end of 2023, 600 university jobs were lost at three of our eight universities: All the jobs likely going and already gone from New Zealand's universities in 2023 | RNZ News<https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/503209/all-the-jobs-likely-going-and-already-gone-from-new-zealand-s-universities-in-2023>. But Universities 'positive' about enrolments after tough financial year (msn.com)<https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/universities-positive-about-enrolments-after-tough-financial-year/ar-BB1i7GYE?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=af66f6d2f11541738f413656ac93dfa9&ei=14>. But Briefing-for-the-Incoming-Minister-for-Tertiary-Education-and-Skills.pdf (tec.govt.nz)<https://www.tec.govt.nz/assets/Ministerial-papers/Briefing-for-the-Incoming-Minister-for-Tertiary-Education-and-Skills.pdf> and Tertiary education is underfunded – TEC | Tertiary Education Union – Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa (teu.ac.nz)<https://teu.ac.nz/news/tertiary-education-is-underfunded-tec/>
New medical school, at U Waikato. Third medical school a step closer with Waikato, ministry signing memorandum (msn.com)<https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/third-medical-school-a-step-closer-with-waikato-ministry-signing-memorandum/ar-BB1ibon7>;
Bargaining resumes this year. While we have had a first preliminary meeting with the employer’s representatives, we remain in planning mode. We encourage members to consider stepping up to participate in this important process. We rely on members’ collective cohesion to defend and improve our working conditions. If you are intrigued and/or game, please contact the organisers nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nzmailto:[nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz](mailto:nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz) and andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nzmailto:[andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nz](mailto:andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nz) who can explain the gory parts in more detail. We are particularly interested in the participation of professional staff and those in any of the many precarious roles.
UnionAID film fundraiser: UnionAID is running a fundraising screening of new release The Old Oak (2023) at the Capitol Cinema, Dominion Rd, 6pm Wed 21 February. Official Trailer (Dir Ken Loach) - YouTube<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwb0c5zqsyM>. All money raised will go to UnionAID projects funding and supporting unions across Asia and the Pacific. Tickets can be secured at https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/auckland-unionaid-film-fundraiser-the-old-oak-tickets-780990813547https://www.eventbrite.co.nz/e/auckland-unionaid-film-fundraiser-the-old-oak-tickets-780990813547.
No university left standing. International human rights monitors have found evidence that Palestinian scholars have been targeted by Israeli strikes. Deconstructed Podcast: No University Left Standing in Gaza (theintercept.com)<https://theintercept.com/2024/02/09/deconstructed-gaza-university-education/>
In the US, book banning is back: 2023 Banned Books Update: Banned in the USA (pen.org)<https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/>. But more stealthily, students’ reading endurance is atrophied. Literacy crisis in college students: on students who don’t read. (slate.com)<https://slate.com/human-interest/2024/02/literacy-crisis-reading-comprehension-college.html>
Citation cartels? Citation cartels help some mathematicians—and their universities—climb the rankings | Science | AAAS<https://www.science.org/content/article/citation-cartels-help-some-mathematicians-and-their-universities-climb-rankings>
Thinking of writing a book for an intelligent public? Beware of malcolms… Popular Nonfiction and the Audience of Imagined Idiots - 3 Quarks Daily<https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2024/01/popular-nonfiction-and-the-audience-of-imagined-idiots.html#more-246960>. See also The Tyranny of Malcolms. A malcolm is a folksy anecdote used to… | by Stian Westlake | Medium<https://stianstian.medium.com/the-tyranny-of-malcolms-259f3e01f17a>
Reminders.
- The Branch committee is seeking members to complete several portfolios. We would love to hear from members interested in the following representational roles: Te Uepū (Māori reps), Women, Recruitment, Professional Staff, Pasifika and GTA/TA. Of particular importance are the Te Uepū reps (one academic, one professional). If you are interested, or have any questions about the roles, email please email me, Noel, or Nicole.
- Office hours on campus. We have a TEU office on campus, Room 417 in the Fisher Building on Waterloo Quadrant. TEU Organisers Nicole and Andy have walk-in office hours every Friday between 10am and 2pm. They can be contacted otherwise by email: nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nzmailto:[nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz](mailto:nicole.wallace@teu.ac.nz) or andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nzmailto:[andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nz](mailto:andy.hipkiss@teu.ac.nz)
Please consider sharing this and subsequent Updates (electronically or print) with colleagues who may benefit from knowing what we are doing.
fraternally b
Barry Hughes, PhD School of Psychology Phone: +64 9 923 5265 Extension: 85265
