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New employment laws a big step backwards for NZ, academic warns

An employment relations professor says proposed changes to employment relations legislation will support inefficient and disorganised employers. Professor Erling Rasmussen, editor of a new book 'Employment Relationships: Workers, Unions and Employers in New Zealand' launched at Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau (AUT) last night, said Aotearoa is heading in the wrong direction by letting employee protection slip out the back door.

"Law changes will mean employers that don’t have suitable HR systems in place won’t need to change their practices and are in fact supported by legislation," Professor Rasmussen said. "This is a big step backwards in protection of employees."

Proposed changes include new kaimahi no longer being able to file a personal grievance claim following dismissal (by extending the 90-day trial period to all new employees), the possibility of requiring a medical certificate for one day of sick leave, and changing process requirements at the Employment Relations Authority.

Professor Rasmussen says Aotearoa is moving towards a US style of human resources practice with an at-will employment approach where employers can get rid of a new employee for any reason and he warns this will be damaging for the country.

"Asking employees to get medical certificates for taking a sick day, for example, is hugely inefficient," adds Professor Rasmussen, "and employers already have the possibility of dealing with employees abusing sick leave entitlements."

The proposed new legislation puts pressure on Aotearoa which is once again facing issues of brain drain and rangatahi dropping out of the workforce altogether, he says.

"We’re currently in the situation where once again people are moving to Australia and overseas," says Professor Rasmussen. "Alongside this, around 17 percent of our young people are unemployed with some being shut out of the workforce permanently."

Also in Hau Taki Haere this week:

1. Joyce pleased there's no cap on international tauira


2. Goodwill gives way to industrial action at Manukau


3. Government has no role funding private capital


4. VCs find ally in campaign against interest-free loans


5. Unitec partners with Tāmaki-Makau-Rau Rugby


6. Other pitopito kōrero

Joyce pleased there's no cap on international tauira

Minister of tertiary education Steven Joyce yesterday announced a seven percent increase in international student enrolments at public tertiary education institutions – driven mainly by the polytechnics, which were up 15 percent. The eight universities reported a four percent increase in their international tauira numbers.

Mr Joyce, who has repeatedly confirmed that there is unlikely to be any new funding from the karauna for public tertiary institutions despite ongoing domestic pressure on rolls, again used the opportunity to instruct institutions to look for private sources of funding to make up the shortfall.

"Further development of the sector will bring real benefits in terms of economic growth plus additional income to allow our tertiary institutions to grow."

"If we want our universities to successfully compete for the top academic talent with Australia and other comparable countries," said Mr Joyce, "then they will need to keep developing all their revenue streams."

Meanwhile the Manuwatu Standard reported that about 1600 potential tauira will miss out on places at Massey University's summer school after it closed its roll three months earlier than usual to avoid exceeding its funding cap for the year.

Te tumu whakarae o TEU, Dr Tom Ryan said it was ironic that the minister had identified the need to compete with Australia but yet again failed to look at the different policy approachs between the two countries.

"Academic talent is not leaving for Australian tertiary institutions because they have more international students but because they have chosen to invest millions of dollars of new funding into tertiary education and into tertiary education salaries."

For more on the government's aspirations to match income levels with Australia see this column in the New Zealand Herald.

Goodwill gives way to industrial action at Manukau

TEU members at the Te Whare Takiura o Manukau (MIT) are preparing to launch a campaign of industrial action next week in response to a series of claims by their employer to undermine their current core working conditions. MIT is seeking to remove the quarterly maximum 300 timetabled teaching hours and also to remove the maximum limit on annual teaching days.

It is also seeking the ability to require its employees to work on more than two evenings per week. It wants 'more liberal' discretionary leave provisions whereby discretionary leave is sold by agreement, with a view 'to reducing that leave over time'

While it is retaining the current 34 hours duty per week it wants to introduce a 75 hours minimum 'working hours' per fortnight clause.

It wants to add to the existing workload principles of 'safe, equitable and reasonable' the adjectives 'effective' and highly productive'.

It has offered pay increases of 1.5 percent and 1.5 percent over a 22 month term but that offer is within the context of making progress on its claims to change conditions.

TEU members held a stop work meeting last Tāite with an overwhelming majority supporting a campaign of industrial action. That campaign begins on Mane with the withdrawal of goodwill, and will escalate. The withdrawal of goodwill means that members will be strictly working to the parameters of their collective agreement.

Local TEU organiser Chan Dixon says this is the third set of negotiations out of four where TEU members at MIT have had to embark on industrial action.

"MIT has signalled its intention to make changes in the key areas of hours of mahi, workload, and discretionary leave, all of which are fundamental. MIT wants to impose change rather than have relationships guided by consent and goodwill. These people need support in every way TEU can - they had take industrial action during last year's negotiations as well," said Ms Dixon.

TEU has set up a webpage where people can send message of support to TEU members at MIT

Government has no role funding private capital

Te tumu whakarae o TEU, Dr Tom Ryan, says the minister of tertiary education's discussion about removing the differential in subsidy between private training enterprises (PTEs) and public tertiary institutions is a revival of a failed lobbying effort in the 1990s.

"Simply put it is not the government's job to be funding capital costs and capital development from private companies," said Dr Ryan.

PTEs were given the same subsidies as public tertiary education institutions in the late 1990s as one of the last-gasp initiatives introduced by minster at the time Max Bradford towards the end of that National-led government. AUS and ASTE attacked it vigorously at the time and for some period thereafter.

Dr Ryan says TEU's position is really quite straightforward.

"There is a long tradition that the Crown normally does not provide capital for private businesses. And if it does then it is entitled, like any shareholder, to participate in the governance of the enterprise. The Crown's rights to appoint council members are related to its ownership of tertiary institutions."

If it is going to remove the funding distinction between PTEs and public tertiary institutions, by equally providing capital to both, then it is effectively subsidising businesses with low capital overheads to profit at the expense of public institutions with large community assets like libraries and facilities.

The subsequent government following Mr Bradford's decision re-introduced a differential subsidy, explicitly acknowledging that there needs to be a capital component in public tertiary education institutions funding to recognise Crown ownership.

VCs find ally in campaign against interest-free loans

The Dominion Post reports that the debate around interest-free student loans has been reopened after pirimia John Key said student debt was a disaster economically.

"If you're an investment banker – not that I am these days – you'd say it's a disaster of a loan book," the pirimia told tauira at Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika a Māui on Tūrei.

"It's 11 billion dollars, roughly, at the moment and we collect 53 cents in the dollar, that's it. Fifty-three cents in the dollar. If you just sat there, logically, you'd say there has to be a better way of doing it."

Mr Key said the policy was "politically charged" so it would stay. "But economically, it doesn't really stack up."

However Derek McCormack, the tiamana of NZVCC, was quick to respond, reiterating his organisation's view that the government should shift funding from student support to investment in universities.

"A low level of interest would net quite a significant amount of money, which could be reinvested into more places in tertiary education," Mr McCormack said.

NZUSA tumuaki David Do said however that interest-free student loans have resulted in significant reductions in loan repayment times and provided future financial stability for hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders.

"The Government should focus on reducing the need for such debt in the first place, and to let the Budget’s changes regarding student loans pan out. While John Key has yet again reaffirmed the policy will stay, constant questioning of it is unhelpful and indicates National’s commitment to it is faltering," said Mr Do.

Unitec partners with Tāmaki-Makau-Rau Rugby

News that Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka and the Auckland Rugby Union are partnering together is just the beginning of a range of rugby-inspired innovations from Unitec according to Tertiary Update’s sports correspondent Paki Taunuhia.

Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka announced its partnership with ARU early this week; a partnership which will include sponsorship of the rugby union's ITM cup team this year and the Blues Super 15 team next autumn.

Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka tumuaki, Dr Rick Ede, says the partnership adds a strong educational link to a close relationship that already exists between the two organisations.

Dr Ede said there are also other exciting developments that are still being finalised which will further enhance the new partnership.

Mr Taunuhia indicated that some of those developments could include the Blues  facilitating a result in its rugby games rather than trying to beat its opposition outright.

One of the things Unitec will share with the Blues from its learnings over the past year is that sometimes it's better to look for the win-win rather than trying to win by making your opposition lose.

"Let's be honest, the Blues haven't had as many wins as they would like in recent years so perhaps a new approach where they try to find a way that both they and the crusaders can win together could be a positive step forward," said Mr Taunuhia.

Mr Taunuhia understands that Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka has been offering helpful human relations advice to the rugby union too.  For instance the union is now au fait with the motivating impact of offering highly specialised, trained professionals a $700 one off payment in lieu of a pay rise.

Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka also sees some productivity gains for Auckland Rugby by having more control over when rugby players are taking breaks or not playing games.

"Those players might say that they are working all year round but, let's face it, the only time you ever see them doing any real work is for about 80 minutes once a week during winter," said Mr Taunuhia.

Other pitopito kōrero

Staff at Te Whare Wānanga o Te Tau Ihu o te Waka-a-Maui (NMIT) were told this week which areas of the institute would be affected by a review that aims to cut the equivalent of 20 fulltime kaimahi. The move, which aims to save the polytechnic $2 million, is part of the second stage of a review of the programmes and curriculum offered by NMIT - Marlborough Express

A Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa medical student is horrified about changes to the national student loan policy that could force her to fund her final year of study without any assistance from the Government. Fourth-year Otago medical tauira Greta File says the "sly" move by the minister of tertiary education Steven Joyce to push through a no-exemptions limited access to student loan scheme will force her overseas, despite ongoing doctor shortages in Aotearoa – Gisborne Herald

Is double-blind peer-review system is still the best way to review an academic article"? Instead of using blind peer-review, "Shakespeare Quarterly" allowed some contributors to post drafts of their articles online and accept comments from anyone - The Chronicle of Higher Education

David Grey at Te Whare Wānanga o Te Tau Ihu o te Waka-a-Maui (NMIT): "We've had to say in some cases we can't do these programmes any more, and in other cases we need to do them more efficiently". Yes, it's meant that the small class sizes NMIT has traditionally been able to offer, with student to staff ratios of 10:1, are now more like 15:1 or 16:1. Yes, it's meant reviewing the amount of time staff are teaching for and whether courses can be delivered differently." – Nelson Mail

The University and College Union warned the British government that encouraging the growth of private universities would damage the UK's international reputation and invite serious questions about standards. Responding to the news that private provider BPP will become the first new private sector university college for more than 30 years, the union said the move would be deeply unpopular with the academic community - UCU

'Smackademics' join the ranks of roller-derby women: a photo essay from the Chronicle of Higher Education

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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: stephen.day@teu.ac.nz

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