Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick joined University of Auckland staff and students in a 500-strong protest outside the vice-chancellors office in response to a five to six percent pay rise offer. Photo: RNZ / Felix Walton
Several thousand university staff walked off the job today in support of their claim for an eight percent pay rise.
Striking workers told RNZ they worked hard to help their institutions through the first two years of the pandemic and they were disappointed their employers were refusing a pay increase that kept pace with inflation.
Union members at Lincoln and Massey universities stopped work for one to two hours this morning, and staff at other universities held half-day strikes in the afternoon.
At Massey University's Wellington campus, staff member Uli Thie said some general staff positions had starting pay rates lower than the living wage.
He said staff deserved better and the university could afford it.
"A lot of money has been saved up for bad times and the bad times are now. So now's the time we need that pay rise just to stay afloat, that's all we ask for."
Long-standing Massey employee Karl Partsch said a pay rise was overdue.
"I think we need a little bit more money. Inflation's a little bit tight. People need to pay the bills," he said.
Tertiary Education Union Massey Wellington branch president Leon Salter said wages in universities had been falling behind for years and many people were hired on insecure, part-time contracts.
"Enough is enough really with the disrespect that's been shown to staff," he said.
Salter said universities could afford the increase.
"They all claim poverty but they've all got money in the bank," he said.
Tertiary Education Union national women's officer Sarah Proctor-Thomson said the union was negotiating separate collective agreements with each university and the coordinated strikes would have a big impact.
"Universities are definitely going to feel it because of the varied roles that our members do right from security, lecturing, to administration in the libraries. We are everywhere and so when we walk off the job nothing's going to work quite the same," she said.
At Victoria University, the strike started with a rally of hundreds of people at midday.
Some students told RNZ they were backing their lecturers.
"I think it's kind of disgraceful what they've been offered which is nothing, the tutors in particular," said Ben.
"My mate's a tutor and he's had six years of education for his specialty and he's still being paid minimum wage so it's pretty terrible."
But others were less sure.
Georgia said many of her lectures were online lectures that had been recorded and used before.
"Just the fact that I have lectures that were recorded years ago and they're still using them, most of my lecturers I'm like 'what are you actually doing'. But my current lecturers, they should get a payrise," she said.
The university's TEU branch president Dougal McNeill said its members felt strongly about the pay claim.
"None of them should be taking an effective pay cut, especially after Covid, all the extra work that's gone in, all the frustrations, all the difficulties - add that through, pay them fairly," he said.
Tutor Sam Bigwood said some tutors were paid the minimum wage and most started on $22.22 an hour and the university was offering them no pay rise at all for the next two years.
That was hard to take after helping the university through the first years of the pandemic, he said.
"For two years we really believed that the university was in a difficult position and we worked really hard in good faith to support the work of the university and for them to come to us again this year and to offer nothing it's like why did we believe you last year and how could this keep going on."
The Tertiary Education Union said only the University of Auckland and Victoria University had announced they would dock the pay of striking workers.
It told its members that Auckland University was offering staff a pay rise of 4-5 percent a year, with a higher increase for those earning less than $60,000 a year, or 3-4 percent a year if they refused changes to their conditions.
Meanwhile Massey University said it was entering mediation with staff unions.
Massey, Otago and Canterbury said they would not dock staff pay for the two-hour strikes on their campuses.
Victoria University said the tertiary sector was under significant pressure and it was "mindful of the need to balance the pressures staff are facing due to cost of living increases with the need to ensure the long term financial sustainability of the University".
University of Auckland staff and students protest outside the vice-chancellor's office in response to a five to six percent pay rise offer. Photo: RNZ / Felix Walton
At the University of Auckland campus, hundreds of staff members gathered to protest for higher pay this afternoon.
Joined by students, the 500-strong crowd marched to the vice chancellor's office. "I'm here to support staff getting fair pay," said one student. "I see how hard they've been working to keep us all going throughout Covid."
Working alongside staff as a teaching assistant, he said he had seen them struggle firsthand. "It seemed really rough for several semesters, and they've been doing such a good job."
The university offered a 5 to 6 percent pay rise this morning, and claimed they could not afford more.
But the protesters were doubtful. "I don't know how they can say that, it's really crazy," said one staff member.
"They told us things would be tight during Covid, and then they've told us about all the profit they made," said another. "Over the last few years, in real terms, our pay has maybe fallen by 17 percent [due to inflation]."
Others criticised Vice Chancellor Dawn Freshwater for her sizeable $755,000 salary. "Perhaps she doesn't feel the cost of a mince and cheese pie going up to five or six bucks," one speaker speculated.
"The university, according to page 78 of its own annual report, made after tax profit of over $100,000,000 last year," read another, to jeers and boos.
"It's just not credible that they can't afford to pay staff a wage increase that is in line with inflation," said bargaining team member Antonia Verstappen.
"Staff have had to pivot, and pivot, and pivot: to working online, back to in person, back to online again, and that's been really tough on staff."
Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick also addressed the crowd. "Today I'm a not-so-proud graduate of the University of Auckland," she said.
"Me and my colleagues will be using all of our power to push Labour, to push our Minister of Education, to come forward and bring all stakeholders around the table and find a resolution."