Onus on polytechnics to settle fairly

by David Clendon

Some unfortunate news from the Tertiary sector late last week as strikes continued at six polytechnics where staff are engaged in a dispute with their employers, seeking a fair pay increase and the protection of their existing working conditions.

Among the affected institutions is my former employer, Unitec. The others are Whitireia Polytechnic, Waikato Institute of Technology, Western Institute of Technology, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic, and Northtec.

I support the action taken by staff at these institutions. As I understand it, a key issue for them is the protection of their entitlement to discretionary leave, which is vital for academic staff, who use this provision to conduct research, write-up findings, or travel to international postings and sabbatical positions. It’s a key part of academic life and professional development and it mustn’t be eroded. Staff come back from these breaks re-energised, motivated, and armed with new knowledge and ideas to critique and share with students.

However, it is unfortunate that the strikes are going on during the exam period, as this is likely to cause some distress to the students caught in the middle. The Unitec Students’ Union, for example, put out a press release expressing concern about this.

There is never a ‘right’ time for academic staff to take action. Outside of teaching or exam time, there is no effect on the core business of the institution and the employer frankly doesn’t care. During semester time, it does affect students, and that makes no-one happy.

I can understand the students’ concerns, but I expect that most of them enrolled at these institutions sympathise with staff in their fight for fair employment conditions. There has been a steady erosion of working conditions that must be halted – I have personally witnessed too much burnout as former colleagues struggled to maintain their quality of teaching and their own academic integrity, in the face of constant demands to do more with less. The interests of students will not be served by staff who feel under-valued, alienated and who are pushed into a ‘compliance’ mentality rather than working in a collegial, supportive environment.

The onus really should go on the employers now to make a fair offer to staff so that they can get back to their core activities – research and teaching – and students can get on with their exams without this added stress.