Kia ora AASC members,
There is a lot happening at the moment and I know you are being bombarded with emails and information. have tried to keep this focussed and brief. As always, if you would like more information, don’t hesitate to contact me.
Current work in progress/updates
CEA/Te Pūkenga. This is the final reminder that the “lift and shift” has occurred on 1 November. Again, all
benefits accrued will be honoured, such as sick leave, continuous service for academic study leave etc. If
you haven’t signed your letter and returned it and still have some doubts, please get in touch with me.
CEA Variation. AASC has signed a variation to our current CEA. Our current CEA remains in force until 31
December. Te Pūkenga has taken over from Ara on 1 November until 31 December.
CEA Bargaining. We will be initiating bargaining in the first weeks of November. The committee has been
reviewing the CEA in conjunction with our lawyer Kathryn Dalziel. Once we have agreed on the terms and
conditions we want to bargain on, I will inform you all. Once we initiate bargaining, you will be protected by the current terms and conditions of our collective beyond the 31st December expiry date of the current CEA.
CEA Coverage. As of 1 November, AASC will no longer be the majority academic staff union at Ara/Te
Pūkenga. Ara/Te Pūkenga are required to inform any new employee of our CEA. Make sure your colleagues who are on our collective but are not members know to join AASC.
MOU/Te Pūkenga. The final draft MOU with Te Pūkenga is on the AASC website. We have not received a
final version from Te Pūkenga, and in reality, this may not be so urgent now that we will initiate bargaining next week. The MOU was proposed when we were going to be moving to Te Pūkenga on 31 December and we needed a structure in place to cover the period after Ara no longer existed and our collective had
expired.
ASL. I am following up with the Executive Director AIR division about the 2023 ASL round. We are proposing a negotiated process, in good faith, to address the ASL Panel’s decisions.
AASC’s new investment strategy. Given the mandate from the membership and approval from the
Committee, Gus has proceeded with Funds Administration New Zealand Limited (FANZ). We have received a proposal on investing some of our available funds with them. We will accept their proposal as it meets all our pre-requisites.
Reminders
Committee members are available if you have any issues you want to discuss – contact a committee
member here.
AASC is hoping to arrange a meeting with the Te Pūkenga CE Peter Winder. If there is anything you would
like me to ask him, please email me. I’ll be able to give you more information in our next Newsletter.
Ngā mihi nui
Warwick Shillito
