Negotiations have been ongoing separately at each of the universities - University of Auckland, AUT, University of Waikato, Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington, Canterbury University, Lincoln University and University of Otago. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
Union members at all eight universities will vote next week on potential strike action as staff seek an eight percent pay rise.
Collective agreement negotiations have been ongoing separately at each of the universities - University of Auckland, AUT, University of Waikato, Massey University, Victoria University of Wellington, Canterbury University, Lincoln University and University of Otago - since July.
In a statement, the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) said nearly all members agreed on the vote at stop-work meetings today.
TEU industrial assistant national secretary Irena Brörens said a pay rise would reflect inflation, the rising cost of living, and the work of staff.
"This year we won't be accepting the impact of Covid-19 as an excuse for low pay offers."
TEU Te Herenga Waka (Victoria University of Wellington) branch president Dougal McNeill said the pandemic "effectively doubled what for many were already unmanageable workloads caused by persistent cost cutting and underinvestment in staff".
"We are in no mood to take an effective pay cut on the back of that."
In a statement, Universities New Zealand (Te Pōkai Tara) chief executive Chris Whelan said they hoped strike action would not be necessary.
Whelan acknowledged the pressure staff faced with the increasing cost of living and their efforts over the course of the pandemic.
While TEU argued most universities had recently been reporting "healthy surpluses" for the most part, Whelan said each university faced a unique set of circumstances and they "need to balance pay increases with other rising costs".
"Surpluses last year were generally a result of universities' one-off cost-cutting measures in the first year of the pandemic followed by better-than-expected domestic and international student numbers in 2021," he said.
"But, given the current buoyant job market and the time-lag for rebuilding international student markets, those numbers and their associated income are unlikely to be so strong in the immediate future, albeit with variation across the universities."
Universities were also struggling with competing demands on their finances, including building and maintenance programmes, Whelan said.
TEU members will vote on whether or not to take strike action in an online ballot next week.