Court orders Auckland University to join national pay talks

The Employment Court has told the University of Auckland to enter negotiations for a national university staff pay-deal, a partial victory for unions.

Association of University Staff members had threatened to strike over Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon's refusal to meet for talks on a national collective agreement - similar to that won by nurses in the healthcare sector.

Professor McCutcheon argued that a national deal was inappropriate in a competitive tertiary environment.

But the Employment Court yesterday released its ruling that the university should take part in multi-employer bargaining.

The law did not allow the statutory process to be "short-circuited ... as the university intends", it said.

The union also claimed Professor McCutcheon had undermined the bargaining process and shown bad faith by offering a pay deal for non-union staff on the eve of negotiations.

The case is being keenly watched as a test of changes to the Employment Relations Act, which aims to bind employers to good faith.

But the court dismissed the claims for declarations that the university had acted unlawfully, and compliance orders.

The decision last night appeared to have done little to improve relations between the association and Professor McCutcheon, who took over as vice-chancellor at the beginning of the year.

While the union was hailing its court victory, the university was welcoming a clarification of the law.

Helen Kelly, general secretary of the association, welcomed the decision, saying the union wanted national bargaining because it would be good for the whole sector.

"The vice-chancellor has been short-sighted and bargaining has been delayed for months as a result."

She said Professor McCutcheon had wasted valuable public money pursuing a bargaining strategy that had proved incorrect.

The crux of the union belief is that a national agreement across all universities will provide powerful leverage for more Government funding.

But the case was further confused after Education Minister Trevor Mallard revealed there would be no extra cash in the Budget to meet wage rises for university staff.

Professor McCutcheon said yesterday that the most powerful pressure for new Government investment would come from high-quality teaching, learning and research.

The university welcomed the court's "clarification" of new aspects of the Employment Relations Act, he said.

His refusal to bargain nationally was based on "a genuine belief" that a multi-employment agreement was not appropriate for the university, and that attending meetings to discuss it was not required by law.

"Throughout these proceedings the university has acted in good faith in all its dealings with the unions and employees," Professor McCutcheon said.

The university has already offered a 4.5 per cent increase to all staff - union and non-union.

Professor McCutcheon said the university would give a multi-employer agreement "further consideration".