The New Zealand Tertiary Education Union (in Māori: Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa) is the main

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in the New Zealand tertiary education sector, and represents the interests of more than 10,000 workers employed within the sector across New Zealand. Its membership includes academics, researchers, teachers and workers employed in all occupations in universities, polytechnics, institutes of technology,

wānanga In the education system of New Zealand, a wānanga is a publicly-owned tertiary institution that provides education in a Māori cultural context. Section 162 of the New Zealand Education Act of 1989 specifies that wānanga resemble mainstrea ...

, other tertiary education providers and allied organisations.

History

Founded in 2009, the TEU was established a result of the amalgamation of the

Association of University Staff of New Zealand The Association of University Staff of New Zealand (AUS) was a national trade union in New Zealand. At its peak, it represented 6500 workers employed in New Zealand universities. In 2009 it merged with the Association of Staff in Tertiary Educat ...

(AUS) and the

Association of Staff in Tertiary Education The Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE) was a national trade union in New Zealand. In 2009 it merged with Association of University Staff (AUS) to become the New Zealand Tertiary Education Union Te Hautu Kahurangi o Aotearoa. ASTE ...

(ASTE). The

Tertiary Institutions Allied Staff Association Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the Period (geology), geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-bird, avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinct ...

(TIASA) voted not to amalgamate and remain independent. TEU is a registered trade union in accordance with the

Employment Relations Act 2000 The New Zealand Employment Relations Act 2000 (sometimes known by its acronym, ERA) is a statute of the Parliament of New Zealand. It was substantially amended by the Employment Relations (Validation of Union Registration and Other Matters) ...

. The TEU is a democratic union with strong membership participation and is governed by an elected council. Policy is determined by an annual conference and implemented by a number of committees.

Campaigns

As well as negotiating typical

labour rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights influen ...

and employment issues with employers (salary levels, hours of work, etc) the TEU has been involved in a number of national campaigns.

Paid parental leave

The Union have actively supported longer statutory paid parental leave, including the recent Parental Leave and Employment Protection (Six Months’ Paid Leave and Work Contact Hours) Amendment Bill which provides six months paid parental leave and guaranteed right to return to work afterwards. The bill is currently stalled in parliament.

Academic Freedom

The Union have campaigned for

academic freedom Academic freedom is a moral and legal concept expressing the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teac ...

, running an essay competition in cooperation with Academic Freedom Aotearoa. and giving out awards, including to

Mike Joy Michael Joy (born November 25, 1949) is an American TV sports announcer and who currently serves as the lap-by-lap voice of Fox Sports' coverage of NASCAR. His color analyst is Clint Bowyer. Counting 2022, Joy has been part of the live broadcast ...

an academic at

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

who had a high profile clash with

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand, Prime Minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as Leader of the New Zealand National Party from 2006 to ...

Living Wage

Under the

there are limits on what actions a union can take in support of employment relations involving employees other than union members, but the TEU supports the Living Wage Movement Aotearoa NZ which campaigns to raise the legal minimum wage. A number of the TEU's members are paid the current legal minimum wage.

Membership

The Union is present in most tertiary education institutions representing academic, purely teaching, purely research and general staff.2014 Annual report, https://issuu.com/nzteu/docs/teu_annual_report_2014 The Union is the members' official representative in employment matters when dealing with their employers (directly or indirectly), many union members (particularly academics and researchers) are also members of the

Royal Society of New Zealand Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

(commonly via constituent bodies) as it is the peak professional body in the humanities and the sciences and has legislated roles in science and research funding.

International

Through membership of

Education International Education International (EI) is a global union federation (GUF) of teachers' trade unions consisting of 401 member organizations in 172 countries and territories that represents over 30 million education personnel from pre-school through universi ...

, TEU is linked to international education groups worldwide, and a wide range of education unions and through membership of the

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU or CTU; mi, Te Kauae Kaimahi) is a national trade union centre in New Zealand. The NZCTU represents 360,000 workers, and is the largest democratic organisation in New Zealand. History It was form ...

, TEU works with other unions to improve the position of all New Zealand workers.

References

External links

* {{Portal, Organized labour New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Trade unions in New Zealand Higher education in New Zealand Trade unions established in 2009