University of Auckland. Photo: 2015 Lakeview Image Library
The discovery of previously secret salary information for the University of Auckland's most senior managers has surprised and angered some staff.
RNZ has been told the details covering 30 people "raised eyebrows" among employees, and could prompt some managers to feel short-changed compared to their peers.
It also comes as union members at the university are in pay talks seeking a cost-of-living pay rise for their members and a minimum living wage for the university's lowest-paid staff.
The information was included in an application for non-profit status in the United States in 2023, and included salaries for the vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater, whose salary range was regularly reported in the university's annual report, but also for other senior staff.
They included three deputy vice-chancellors, two pro vice-chancellors and 10 deans, as well as the heads of human resources, libraries and IT.
The deans' salaries ranged from $169,878 to $290,499.
The information was publicly available in the US, but had not come to the attention of anyone in New Zealand until last week.
One staff member told RNZ there was little interest from their peers in the information, but another said there had been a lot of interest. They said some senior staff "will be looking sideways" and could feel "under-compensated" compared to other staff with similar responsibilities.
The information also included any payments to companies totalling more than $100,000, including $95.7 million to Hawkins Ltd, $10.9m to Montana Catering, $10.3m to UP International College, $8.3m to Aspec Construction and $8.3m to insurers March Ltd.
Dawn Freshwater Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Freshwater emailed staff last week to alert them to the publication.
"Most of the information is accessible from our Annual Report 2023 which is published on our website. However, the names and salaries of around 30 staff members have also been released," she said.
"We have contacted directly the people affected to inform them of the situation and offer support."
The Tertiary Education Union told its members the email was "a most unlikely attempt at damage control".
The union's University of Auckland organiser Nicole Wallace said information from previous years showed some senior managers enjoyed percentage pay rises more than three times higher than those received by regular staff.
"Our members are pretty incensed at seeing the sort of pay increases that these senior managers have been getting on top of their already very generous pay packets," she said. "They feel it's incredibly unfair, and honestly, a bit hypocritical."
Wallace said union members were seeking a cost-of-living pay increase and a living wage for the university's lowest-paid staff.
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