Canterbury Branch monthly update, May 2007

• Nigel Haworth speaking on AUS/ASTE/TIASA amalgamation
• Arts Future Meetings
• Professorial Salary Scale
• PBRF News
• Research on Employment Disputes
• May Day in Christchurch 75 years ago
• Industrial action at Christchurch Polytechnic

Nigel Haworth speaking on AUS/ASTE/TIASA amalgamation

Date and Time: 3 May Thursday at 1pm
Venue: Arts Lecture Theatre A2

Nigel Haworth (AUS President) will be speaking on the draft proposal for a new union which will amalgamate existing tertiary unions. Prior to this meeting you will receive a pamphlet outlining the proposal. Nigel will give a presentation on amalgamation but more importantly listen to and address any questions you have on the new structure. Light refreshments will be available following the meeting and the opportunity to discuss the issue further with Nigel.

Full details of the proposal is available at: http://www.aus.ac.nz/Current/amalgamation/amalgamation.asp

Arts Future Meetings

The BA review will be made public this week. The Branch Committee will post a summary of the document on the Blog: http://aus-canterbury.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile our member meetings on the Arts Future will continue on Wednesday 2 May at 12pm in Room 208 MacMillan Brown.

Contact Aditya Malik if you wish to discuss: aditya.malik@canterbury.ac.nz

Venue: Mac. Brown Rm 208
Date: Weds 2 May
Time: 12 – 1 pm
Meeting for members and staff in: Macmillan Brown Centre, Fine Arts, Theatre and Film Studies, and Music.

Venue: Education/English Rm 104A
Date: Weds 9 May
Time: 12 – 1
Meeting for members and staff in: Classics and Linguistics, Philosophy and Religious Studies, History,

Venue: Education/English Rm 104A
Date: Thurs 17 May
Time: 12 – 1
Meeting for members and staff in: Maori and Indigenous Studies, Languages and Culture, and Culture, Literature and Society.

These meetings are open to all AUS members. If you can't attend a meeting with your department please come to another scheduled meeting.

Professorial Salary Scale

The AUS will ballot members on the Academic Collective Agreement on whether they agree or disagree to the variation. The Branch Committee have endorsed the variation. Members can vote on proposal on Tuesday 8 May at 12pm in Arts Lecture Theatre A2.

Details of the variation are on the Branch Blog: http://aus-canterbury.blogspot.com/

PBRF News

2006 Quality Evaluation

Results of the Quality Evaluation will be released publicly at 1pm Tuesday May 1. AUS will be attending a sector briefing prior to the release of the results.

There is a short time period in which to make complaints – they must be lodged by Friday 18 May, and the TEC will investigate complaints only in relation to administrative or procedural errors. Complaints must be lodged by the university.

Individual results are private and should only be used by institutions with the permission of the researcher and in accordance with university policy. Any concerns about breaches of confidentiality may be referred to your AUS organiser.

Feedback on 2006 Quality Evaluation

AUS is interested in receiving members’ views on the latest Quality Evaluation. If you have any thoughts on the evaluation process, the results, the impact of the PBRF on your teaching and research, or on employment relationships, please forward them to AUS Policy Analyst Rebecca Matthews at rebecca.matthews@aus.ac.nz. Your emails will help inform our participation in the PBRF redesign process and would be greatly appreciated.

AUS Policy on PBRF

The following remit was passed at the 2006 AUS Conference:

That AUS support a public funding model that recognises the research contribution made by universities; but, that AUS calls for the cessation of the PBRF’s use of individual portfolios (especially when compulsory) in all future assessments; and that hence, AUS call for a less time-consuming, more effective method of assessing universities’ research productivity.

This remit challenges us to move beyond criticising the problems with the PBRF to examining alternatives. We welcome any thoughts you have on research funding, please send them to rebecca.matthews@aus.ac.nz

Research on Employment Disputes

The Department of Labour, along with McDermott Miller Ltd, is conducting research on employment disputes and how they are resolved. They say the study will help to better understand the costs and benefits of employment disputes for the employees and businesses who experience them. They are interested in finding out all the ways that employment disputes have affected people and businesses. The study involves two parts – an employer survey and case studies of individual employment disputes.
If you want more information and/or are interested in assisting this research please contact:

Christina Howard
Workplace Policy Research and Evaluation
Department of Labour
phone 04 915 4681

May Day in Christchurch 75 years ago

The largest May Day celebration ever held in New Zealand was in Christchurch in 1932. This was precipitated by the bitter Tramway’s strike of that year. The strike had been initiated as a result of the dismissal of 12 tramwaymen, including their union president, on the 27 April.

May Day fell on a Sunday that year and 10 000 workers (around a quarter of the city’s pre-depression workforce) and supporters marched to Cranmer Square where the Mayor, Labour Members of Parliament, and representatives of Unions including the Tramway’s president Jock Mathison, the communist party and the militant Unemployed Workers Movement addressed the crowd. The parade was lead by a brass band playing “The People’s Flag” with the leading banner reading “May Day – International Day of Working Class Solidarity”

Ref: Mayday: A history and a future, The Canterbury District Council NZCTU, 1995

Industrial action at Christchurch Polytechnic

ASTE members at CPIT have rejected the Polytechnic’s offer of between 2 – 2.5% pay increase and have voted to ‘work to rule’ with the option of taking strike action. The employers offer was conditional on a drastic reduction in sick leave for staff. ASTE will be holding meetings of its members at CPIT this week.