Massey staff to meet with unions over pay impasse

Massey University staff have started a series of rolling strikes today in the lead-up to a second national strike on August 4.

The staff will meet with unions on Monday to discuss the pay talks impasse.

Harvey Jones, president of the Massey branch of the Association of University Staff, said a paid stopwork meeting would be held on Tuesday to discuss the results of Monday's meeting.

Members of the Association of University Staff and the Public Service Association are attempting to negotiate pay increases to bring them closer to salaries at Australian and other overseas universities.

On July 20, Massey staff marched from the Turitea and Hokowhitu campuses to centre of Palmerston North as part of national strike action.

Besides a pay increase the unions are seeking a national collective employment agreement covering all universities rather than the present single-employer contracts.

- nzpa