Auckland tertiary lecturers to strike over workload

Lecturers at an Auckland tertiary institute today gave notice of industrial action over increasing workloads.

The action at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) would be in the form of "short, sharp lightning strikes", Tertiary Education Union (TEU) organiser Chan Dixon said.

No decision had been made as to what days and times the strikes would happen, but they were likely to begin tomorrow and last about a fortnight, she said.

When the action was being taken, it would mean students arriving in class to find their lecturer absent.

"Inevitably, it does put students out, but we're confident we've got really good student support," Ms Dixon said.

"The key issue is around workload and, ultimately, around the quality of education that students are getting here."

Ms Dixon said the overwhelming majority of TEU members at MIT had voted in favour of going on strike.

She said MIT had among the highest workloads in the polytechnic sector.

The level had become unrealistic after redundancies to administrative staff last year and with the increase in student numbers because of the economic climate.

She said lecturers were also opposed to management proposals that could mean staff working more variable hours and "at more unsociable times".

MIT communications manager Zara Potts said the institute was trying to advise students of the impending action, while looking at how to mitigate its effects as much as possible.

Ms Potts said management was keen to resolve the issues behind the industrial dispute.

However, in relation to more flexible hours, she said 70 per cent of MIT students studied part time, so course timetables had to be worked around their employment.

- NZPA