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Court tells TOPNZ its 34 hour weeks for union members

The Employment Court has found that a staff member at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand who subsequently joined the union was entitled to work 34 weekly duty hours as specified in the collective employment agreement, rather than the 36 hours he earlier agreed to in a letter of offer and acceptance of employment.

Chief Judge Colgan rejected the Open Polytechnic's appeal against an earlier authority finding in favour of the union member. He said that for the polytechnic's case to succeed the court would need to ignore a clause of the collective agreement, which specified that any previously agreed terms and conditions of employment cease to apply on the day on which the employee becomes bound by the collective employment agreement.

"The court cannot, for reasons of convenience, ignore clear and not otherwise explicable provisions of a collective agreement.... [Where] an employee elects to exercise his or her statutory right of union membership after employment commences, the Open Polytechnic is bound then to apply the 34 hour working week to such an employee, and if it wishes to increase this to 36 hours, must renegotiate that with the employee concerned." This clause is unique to the Open Polytechnic collective.

The result means that all TEU members at the polytechnic now have a 34 hour working week.

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says the decision highlights the need for employers to comply with collective employment agreements and not rely on internal interpretations of how new staff are offered employment.

"The decision has reinforced the value of collective bargaining and a strong union membership."

Also in Tertiary Update this week:

1. More investment in skills to address staff shortages


2. TEU Massey members defend right to know reason for redundancy


3. Progress on gender pay gap requires more than words


4. Can institutions buy and sell treaty claim assets?


5. Diplomas led to healthier, happier women


6. Other news

More investment in skills to address staff shortages

Recruitment firm Manpower says the skills shortage looks set to worsen as the economy recovers, and that companies will have to rethink the way they attract staff.

The percentage of New Zealand employers finding it difficult to fill positions has dropped significantly since 2008 as a result of recession, from 47 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2009 and 30 percent this year.

According to Chris Riley, general manager of Manpower New Zealand, the lower level reflects the fact that New Zealand is yet to see the full effect of economic recovery. Even during recession, however, New Zealand was experiencing chronic skills shortages.

Mr Riley said that we are seeing a 'jobless' recovery in many parts of the world – where economic growth isn't matched by jobs growth.Yet where there are jobs available, employers are having difficulty filling positions.

“The issue is not about the number of potential candidates, but rather talent mismatch, because there are not enough sufficiently skilled people in the right places at the right times. Compounding the issue is that employers are seeking ever more specific skill sets and are less willing to engage in anticipatory hiring. This all adds up to a very challenging and frustrating time for employers and job seekers alike," Mr Riley said.

TEU National president Dr Tom Ryan says the survey shows the important role tertiary education can play providing people with the skills they need for the current job market.

"Educating and training more engineers, trades people, accounting staff, IT workers and technicians – all listed as areas of skill shortages – is a valuable investment  both for New Zealand businesses facing a skills shortage and for New Zealanders who need a job," said Dr Ryan.

TEU Massey members defend right to know reason for redundancy

TEU has recently helped two members appear at the Employment Court to defend their right to access information relating to why they were made redundant.

The two members went though a restructuring last year. The result of the restructure was that a number of existing jobs were disestablished and fewer new positions were created, forcing incumbent academics to compete for the remaining posts. The pair both applied for new positions following the restructure but were unsuccessful. They subsequently requested the information upon which the university had based its decision but Massey refused to provide it.

With TEU's support, the pair went to the Employment Relations Authority and won the right to be given the information relating to their application to keep their jobs.  However, Massey University challenged the authority ruling and sought to have it overruled by a full Employment Court panel of three judges.

TEU initiated the action because of its wide ranging implications for other TEU members nationally, many of whom are going through similar reviews and restructurings and redundancies in the tertiary sector, or may face them in the future.

TEU national secretary Sharn Riggs says the case is important to TEU members because of the wide range of restructuring processes taking place in the tertiary sector at the moment.

"Interviews where people are made to reapply for jobs at their own work are different to normal job interviews. If something goes wrong, the applicant loses their job and is made redundant. TEU very rarely gets to challenge the way those decisions are made and ensure the process was fair because tertiary institutions generally hold on to most of the information. That's not fair on the people who have worked productively and loyally at a tertiary institution," said Ms Riggs.

Progress on gender pay gap requires more than words

Minister of women’s affairs, Pansy Wong has announced that her ministry is receiving "its second tranche of funding of $500,000" for work on the gender pay gap.

Part of the new work of the ministry will be an analysis of women's labour market participation, with a focus on mothers.

However, TEU women’s vice-president Sandra Grey says it is ironic that this work is being heralded as part of the moves to narrow the gender pay gap just when the government is taking money out of childcare provision. In last week’s Budget, the government decreased early childhood funding by between 5 and 13 percent, a move estimated to affect more than 90,000 children.

"Why put money into research into mother’s labour force participation while cutting money out of a crucial service which allows them to balance paid and unpaid work?"

"I would also question the minister’s commitment to the gender pay gap when her solution is to encourage more women into trades," said Dr Grey. "Women-dominated occupations – even in our own workplaces – are undervalued and underpaid. Just moving women into ‘male-dominated’ occupations does not address this disparity."

Dr Grey did, however, welcome the attempt to gather more information on why our women graduates are being paid at a lower rate than our male graduates. "This will help to dispel myths that the gender pay gap can be explained by the fact that women take time out from careers to raise families."

In March the Ministry of Women's Affairs released research which showed that graduates with bachelor degrees shows that men start earning more than women a year after starting work. The pay gap starts developing from the first year, and after five years ranges between 1 percent and 20 percent.

Can institutions buy and sell treaty claim assets?

Māori Party MP Hone Harawira has asked the minister of tertiary education Steven Joyce to explain the procedures tertiary education institutions have to comply with before disposing of any assets that are surplus to their needs.

Mr Harawira used his question in parliament yesterday to find out if those assets are able to be retained as part of the redress options for Treaty of Waitangi settlement claims for iwi.

In response Mr Joyce identified that the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) and Massey University have both identified surplus Crown assets and are going through a disposal process that includes consultation with iwi. Labour's tertiary education spokesperson Maryan Street later suggested that the current Te Tau Ihu Treaty settlement negotiations may also impact upon land and properties currently occupied by the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology.

Mr Joyce said that if a tertiary institution wants to dispose of surplus land that is in Crown title, then Māori interests in that land are considered through the existing processes.

"These processes are managed by the Office of Treaty Settlements and are unchanged by the new policy regarding Crown assets in the tertiary sector. If a tertiary education institution wants to dispose of surplus land that it owns, it does not need to go through these processes, but it must honour any right of first refusal on the title of the land."

However Mr Harawira was concerned that Cabinet had recently agreed to a plan "to make it easier for tertiary institutions to sell their Crown-owned assets" and wanted to know what consultation has been undertaken between the Crown and iwi over that plan.

The policy Mr Harawira was referring to was announced last month by the Tertiary Education Commission and enables tertiary institutions to acquire or sell Crown assets. However, if such an asset is currently being considered for inclusion in a Treaty of Waitangi settlement the Ministers might instead decide to lease the asset to the institute until all Treaty claims in the area are settled. This would be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Diplomas led to healthier, happier women

A study by the Ministry of Education into the benefits of tertiary certificates and diplomas has found that women with diplomas are likely to have better health, have higher overall life satisfaction, and are more likely to read to their preschool children than women with no qualifications.

The study examines the economic and social benefits associated with tertiary certificates and diplomas. These include employment, income, well-being, social participation and intergenerational benefits.

The clearest evidence of social outcomes from tertiary certificates and diplomas is for greater maternal support for their children’s learning. These effects are largely independent of employment and income. Mothers who have diplomas are also likely to have more books in the home, which has been shown to have a strong relationship to children’s reading ability.

The study finds that, as well as the social benefits to women, diplomas also have employment benefits for men and women, with similar employment rates as holders of bachelors degrees though with slightly lower income. The social benefits to men of gaining a diploma are less evident, according to the study.

Attaining level 1 to 3 certificates has economic and employment benefits for learners, compared to having no qualifications at all. However, the social benefits for people with level 1 to 3 certificates are similar to those of people with no qualifications.

Level 4 certificates are associated with higher employment and income than school qualifications. Men with level 4 certificates have very good rates of employment and relatively high incomes, probably due to the high demand for trades qualifications at this level. There is some evidence for better social outcomes for women with level 4 certificates, but less so for men.

Other news

Staff at the University of Otago College of Education fear a cost-cutting restructuring proposal announced yesterday will result in poorer-quality programmes for teacher trainees.Staff called to a meeting yesterday were "stunned" to hear 23 of the group of about 70 teacher educators are likely to lose their jobs by the end of 2012, Tertiary Education Union southern organiser Kris Smith said last night -Otago Daily Times

The Government has backtracked on a promise of $11 million funding for a New Zealand School of Music, throwing the $60m project into doubt. Victoria and Massey, the two universities behind plans for the proposed school near Wellington's Civic Square, say they are still planning the project but need outside support to build it – The Dominion Post

“Collaboration” is the new buzz word among tertiary institutions. Aoraki Polytechnic is linking with the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand to offer business degree study from Timaru, BOP Polytechnic  has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Waikato to develop and deliver health and healthcare related teaching, and Lincoln University and Telford Rural Polytechnic continue their merger plans.

Sir Wira Gardiner has been appointed by the government to chair the Tertiary Education Commission, an organisation with a $3 billion budget. The New Zealand Herald understands the Cabinet confirmed the appointment of Sir Wira, husband of National MP Hekia Parata, last week. He has been called on as a fix-it man for both major political parties in the past, and his appointment could signal more emphasis on cost savings and quality control in the tertiary sector – New Zealand Herald

Global private education provider Navitas will slash staff numbers at La Trobe University's International College by at least a third, with the loss of 43 or more jobs. The Melbourne-based university will have to pick up the redundancy costs under its deal with Navitas to privatise the business – The Australian

There is both a demand and a need for the Centre for New Zealand Studies in London, according to a review instigated after the decision to close it. The centre at Birkbeck College, University of London, was set up in 2007. A memorandum of understanding was signed between the New Zealand government and Birkbeck, and the New Zealand government donated £100,000 to the centre in April 2008. But last autumn, less than three years after its opening, Birkbeck announced its intention to wind down the centre. Despite international criticism of the move, the centre’s library was disposed of and its staff sacked – Times Higher Education Supplement

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: stephen.day@teu.ac.nz

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