A union is pushing the country's universities and tertiary institutions to give the same pay rises to all staff - from cleaners to top managers.
Photo: RNZ / Daniela Maoate-Cox
The Tertiary Education Union says its members want to reverse wage inequality.
Otago University broke new ground in February when it announced its union members had negotiated a $1000 flat rate pay rise, rather than a percentage-based rise.
Yesterday, Otago Polytechnic joined the Southern Institute of Technology and Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology in following suit.
It announced a flat salary increase of $900 a year for its union members from next month, and a further $950 from the middle of next year.
The president of the Tertiary Education Union, Sandra Grey, said it was not without resistance.
President of the Tertiary Education Union, Sandra Grey, Photo: SUPPLIED
"Our institutions in past years have made arguments around the relativity of wages; that you want to make sure that those who have spent years working on PhDs and then as lecturing staff are being recognised," she said.
"The fact that we're able to go to them with very clear indications and strong membership on campuses - that this is something that we're very committed to - has made the difference."
She said union members at Auckland University, Canterbury University, AUT, and Massey were currently negotiating for similar flat rate increases.
"Our membership has become very concerned with growing inequality, which affects many New Zealanders, and this is their way of making a sound contribution to making sure the lowest paid people are getting a boost."
CTU president Helen Kelly. Photo: SUPPLIED
The president of the Council of Trade Unions, Helen Kelly, said the move showed a real togetherness.
"We do see flat rate increases, particularly when whole workplaces are in the same union and negotiating together, so you see some of the better paid staff using their industrial muscle to ensure that the lower paid staff do get a better pay increase," she said.
Business New Zealand's employment relations policy manager, Paul McKay, said the concept would not work everywhere.
"They're not that common. It's far more common to see percentage-based increases because the main objective for most people is to preserve real value in their incomes," he said.
"It's never going to be the case where we can afford not to look at the real value of incomes, particularly in the middle-to-lower bracket of incomes."
Neither he nor Helen Kelly could think of any other industrial unions pushing for flat pay rises.
Max Rashbrooke, who edited the book Inequality: A New Zealand Crisis, said workers were gradually losing their bargaining power and the gap between the top and bottom earners was widening.
"The best thing really is if universities would get on board with the living wage... but this is the next best thing," he said.