University staff seek leap in salaries

New Zealand will lose the cream of its intellectual capital if universities do not increase salaries substantially, says their staff's union.

Association of University Staff national president Bill Rosenberg said salaries lagged "significantly" behind those in Australia, and the union's claim of 10 per cent pay rises for the next three years was necessary to stop further slippage.

"On a straight conversion basis, New Zealand salaries are as much as 22 per cent behind those in Australia, and even when using OECD comparative price level data, it is apparent that purchasing power value is up to 13 per cent behind," he said.

"Higher superannuation and leave benefits give the Australians a further margin of at least 11 per cent on their New Zealand counterparts."

The salary claim for this month's negotiations focused on recruitment and retention problems forecast to beset universities worldwide by the end of the decade, said Dr Rosenberg.

A similar claim, to increase general (non-academic) staff salaries by 10 per cent next year, followed by inflation-adjusted increases for the following two years, will also be made.

- NZPA