New Zealand strike threats over ‘slow’ bargaining

New Zealand universities have expressed surprise after staff threatened strikes over the “slow progress in pay negotiations”.

Tertiary Education Union (TEU) members at six of the country’s universities have held stop-work meetings in which they resolved to vote on strike action. The union said its claims for a 6 per cent increase had been met with offers of 3 per cent or less.

“Pay growth in the sector has been much slower than the rest of the Aotearoa [New Zealand] workforce, at a time when inflation has been at 30-year highs,” said TEU president Sandra Grey.

The union also wants its lowest paid members to receive at least the national living wage of NZ$27.80 (£13.11) an hour – more than some university administrators, librarians, security staff and gardeners currently earn. “Nobody in Aotearoa, let alone working at a university, should be paid less than what it costs to live,” Dr Grey said.

University leaders were nonplussed at the threat of strikes. “From our perspective, the current negotiation process is continuing well,” said Victoria University of Wellington vice-chancellor Nic Smith. “All parties [are] working in good faith towards finding a solution.”

The University of Otago said it was confident of reaching a “fair and equitable” resolution. “Our negotiations have been progressing quickly and efficiently,” said human resources director Kevin Seales. “We have been holding regular and constructive meetings with the unions and are scheduled to meet again next week.”

Lincoln University said there had been no “undue delays” in bargaining. A spokeswoman said Lincoln had adopted the living wage as a “minimum” in collective agreements in 2021, and pay increases since then had reflected “general wage and salary trends in the wider labour market”.

Auckland, Canterbury and Massey universities also insisted that they were bargaining in good faith. “We are working within the financial constraints faced by the entire tertiary sector,” a Massey spokeswoman said. Auckland said it was “committed to rewarding our staff to the maximum extent we can, while also maintaining…financial sustainability at a time when the tertiary sector…is facing significant challenges”.

Meanwhile, Australia’s National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has accused Victoria University (VU) of “locking out” members participating in “limited” industrial action including a one-week ban on teaching delivery.

The NTEU said VU administrators had advised that they would refuse to accept any work from union members who participated in the “protected” industrial action, precipitated by workloads of “more than 50 hours a week” and a wait of “nearly two years since the last enterprise agreement expired”.

“Instead of engaging in constructive negotiations for fairer pay and workloads, VU has opted to punish staff exercising their legal right to take industrial action,” said Sarah Roberts, secretary of the NTEU’s Victorian division.

A VU spokeswoman said negotiations had achieved “in-principal agreement” on many clauses in a proposed agreement featuring new leave entitlements and a salary increase to complement a 4 per cent rise earlier this year. The union’s “unnecessary action…only delays the finalisation of a new agreement”, she said.

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com