Source: Tertiary Education Union
Negotiations between Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union (TEU) and Aotearoa New Zealand polytechnics for a multi-employer collective agreement (MECA) commence this May Day, Friday 1 May.
TEU members are seeking a two-year term, and real pay increases that are not absorbed or overtaken by the rising cost of living but allow members’ standard of living to actually improve. TEU also seeks a commitment to all pay rates being above the Living Wage.
Sharlene Nelson, a TEU bargaining team member and representative of NorthTec said, like all New Zealanders, polytechnic staff were feeling the pressure of rising costs.
“The ongoing fuel crisis has made paying the bills even harder. We’re going into our negotiations hopeful that our employer will see that to retain great staff they need to value us.”
Prior to the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga late last year, TEU polytechnic members had been employed under a single agreement with similar terms and conditions. This is the first time a MECA has been initiated in the sector, aiming to keep allied (non-teaching) and academic staff across the motu sitting under one agreement.
TEU bargaining team member and representative of Manukau Institute of Technology, Steve McCabe, says that the negotiation of a MECA is truly historic and important – and that it gives both staff and employers an opportunity to bargain efficiently, from a place of strength.
“We know that the polytechnic staff and polytechnics themselves have endured enormous change and stress under the dismantling of Te Pūkenga. Being able to bargain as a MECA gives our members a unified and strong base to negotiate from, but it also gives the institutions themselves a way to challenge the government’s continued underfunding of our sector.”
Mr McCabe said that staff and employers had a common goal – to create a sustainable and healthy polytechnic sector that serves the needs of students and communities across Aotearoa.
“We do this by properly valuing staff. We understand that different polytechnics may want to bargain alone, but we’re saying this will only make you weaker as an institution. A MECA works for staff and employers because different institutions are not pitting staff wages against each other.
“The polytechnic sector is crucial for students training in technical and commercial pathways, and for those studying in the regions. We are going into these negotiations with the strong intention to work together to create a strong vocational polytechnic sector for our staff and future students.”
