Tertiary Update, Vol 13 No 20
The minister of state services, Mr Tony Ryall, has released updated Expectations for Pay and Employment Conditions in the State Sector.
“While there are no fundamental changes to these updated Expectations, there is a stronger emphasis on reinforcing the critical link between decisions about pay and employment conditions, productivity and fiscal restraint and improved service delivery” said Mr Ryall.
“I expect all decisions about pay and employment conditions to support these priorities, and that any decisions to increase employment costs are tied to service improvement.”
Mr Ryall said that the key points of the new Expectations are that any changes to pay must contribute to the overall improvement of frontline services, be financially sustainable for the next 3-5 years, and be linked to improved productivity.
The Expectations apply to all tertiary education institutions but, unlike other state sector bodies, there is only an obligation to consult with the State Services Commission rather than the commissioner having overall responsibility for negotiations.
TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs said the government’s last Expectations had caused significant problems for the union. These new Expectations appear to be substantially the same, if not even harder still on public sector workers, with further references to constraint and the new requirement that employer bargaining strategies “demonstrate continuing affordability”.
“Employers need to recognise that staff in the tertiary educations sector have all demonstrated improved productivity, increased workloads, and commitment to service over the last year and so should be paid accordingly” said Ms Riggs.
Also in Tertiary Update this week
- Otago teacher educators the meat in the sandwich
- More international students to replace capped domestic students
- Salaries fall but unionised teaching professionals do better
- Reflecting on the Budget
- School principals fear students won’t get to university
- Australian govt not consulting over indigenous institute
Other news
The New Zealand Library Association (LIANZA) says the University of Canterbury’s Change Proposal – Learning Resources – if implemented, would endanger the University as a centre of teaching, learning and research excellence because it would significantly reduce services available in the university’s libraries. The proposed disestablishment of 28% of the Library’s positions would see the University rushing into change which is expensive to implement and very costly in terms of the loss of institutional knowledge and proven ability.
TEU has released draft policies for consultation on teacher registration and the supervision of student practicum, public tertiary education, intellectual property, general staff job evaluation, academic freedom on its online forum.
Education Directions reports that, finally, one single polytechnic in New Zealand has appointed a current staff member to its council. What’s more she’s a union member. NorthTec has appointed Gwen Edge to its council. She has been a staff member for 24 and a member of the local TIASA Executive for 22 years. Congratulations, Gwen!
The Department of Labour reports that the main reason employers hire migrants (83 percent) is that they cannot find New Zealanders with the right skills or training. Eighty-five percent of employers who had employed a migrant in the last 12 months say they had tried to find a New Zealander to fill the position.
Families with new babies can expect a boost to their parental leave payments next month, says Minister of Labour Kate Wilkinson. The maximum parental leave payment will increase from $429.74 per week to $441.62 per week from July 1.
A lecturer who has been ordered to undergo two years of “monitoring” after showing a female colleague a paper about oral sex among fruit bats has challenged the president of his university to a debate on the topic of “limits of academic freedom” – Times Higher Education Supplement
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TEU Tertiary Update is published weekly on Thursdays and distributed freely to members of the Tertiary Education Union and others. You can subscribe to Tertiary Update by email or feed reader. Back issues are available on the TEU website. Direct inquiries should be made to Stephen Day, email: http://scr.im/stephenday