The Green Party is once again calling on the Minister of Education to bring union, government officials and sector leaders together to urgently improve the pay and condition of tertiary education staff.

“People who work at our tertiary institutions contribute so much to our communities; teaching our future teachers, social workers, nurses, scientists, engineers and critical thinkers. They lay the foundations of our education sector and deserve fair pay and conditions” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for tertiary education, Chlöe Swarbrick.

A delegation of Tertiary Education Union members gathered on the Parliament steps today calling on the Government to take action to build a sustainable future for our tertiary education sector - including boosting funding and pay.

“No one has a greater commitment to the future of tertiary education than the people who staff those institutions. They are precisely the people who should be at the table helping decide strategies and budgets, because they’re the ones who deliver and uphold it. This collaboration is particularly paramount in the case of AUT, who have recently proposed cutting 250 staff.

“The Green Party backs the TEU’s campaign and calls on the Minister to bring union, government officials, and sector leaders together to discuss a way forward.

“The privilege of being a Government Minister is also the responsibility to step in when things are going awry. Minister Hipkins can and should bring everyone to the table, as Hon. Michael Cullen did in the early 2000s, to form a sustainable and collaborative pathway through stalled negotiations,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

© Scoop Media