Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
Strike action at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has been scaled back after the university indicated it would suspend staff without pay for two weeks.
The union had originally elected not to enter or release marks to students for two weeks from Thursday. In response, AUT told staff anyone who took part in the action would be issued with suspension notices and wouldn't be paid during that time.
"Even though they were going to do the bulk of their job, they were going to suspend them from work," Tertiary Education Union (TEU) national secretary Sandra Grey said. "That means losing pay for two whole weeks."
Instead, staff will strike between 1pm and 5pm on Thursday - and will be paid for those hours.
AUT spokesperson Beth Bundy welcomed the change as an example of "constructive dialogue."
"As a result of this withdrawal, the action taken by union members at AUT will be in line with that taken by all other New Zealand universities, and AUT union members will no longer unfairly punish students with the threat of withholding grades," she said.
"Staff would be paid for those hours in recognition of the "conciliatory nature of the negotiations", Bundy said.
Grey did not agree and called the response from AUT "heavy-handed".
"This has not been the approach from the employer [AUT] in the past. We had never anticipated this was where we would end up"
TEU members say they are angry and worried about the future of the sector, with the union calling for an 8 percent pay rise for its members amid concerns of a widening gap between wages and inflation.
An estimated 7000 academics, researchers and general staff from Auckland, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), Canterbury, Lincoln, Massey, Otago, Victoria and Waikato universities will take part in the strike action.
Most staff will still be paid during the strike, except those at the University of Auckland and Victoria University.
Victoria University spokesperson Mark Daldorf said the decision to not pay striking staff was "in line with relevant legislation".
"All options where the money can best be used for the benefit of students will be explored," he said.
The University of Auckland wrote on its website that there was "no legal entitlement [for staff] to be paid while on strike" and declined to comment further.
Grey called the situation "fluid for employers and unions alike" and said suspension notices - and therefore docked pay - wouldn't become official until issued at the start of the strike.
She didn't rule out using other tactics - such as not entering grades - should Thursday's action not succeed.
"We don't rule out anything at the moment. There's lots more coming. If they come with a better pay offer, we'll call everything off."