◆ MY UNION
National Council during COVID Over 100 rank and file delegates and officers from every Branch around the country met at the end of October for the NTEU National Council. But this was a Council with a difference – for the first time ever, due to COVID-19 restrictions, the entire Council meeting was held online, over two days. This year’s Council, the Union’s main decision-making body that sets our policies and priorities for the coming year, was held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, which continues to have profound impacts on the tertiary education sector. It has seen universities lose over 12,000 jobs and grapple with a revenue shortfall of $3 billion this year, and up to $16 billion in 2021. At the same time the Morrison Government has successfully passed (albeit, by only one vote in the Senate) the Job-Ready Graduates legislation, which will change for the worse the university funding framework. The main issues considered by National Council, and not covered elsewhere in this edition of the Advocate, are outlined here.
2020/21 Priorities Council acknowledged that COVID-19 has affected much of the Union’s work this year, and that many things envisaged at last year’s Council weren’t able to be done.
4. Build capacity and foster activism by investing in delegate, staff, and officer development through resourcing, education, training and support. 5. Develop strategies and materials for campaigning on: • Protection of jobs. • Wage theft. • Insecure work and enforcement of casual entitlements. • Healthy workplaces and the elimination of psychosocial hazards. 6. Prepare the Union at all levels for bargaining. 7. Continue to engage in public advocacy to secure and advance academic and intellectual freedom, freedom of speech and institutional autonomy. In implementing these priorities the Union will work in consultation with the relevant interest groups and advisory bodies such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy Committee, the Women’s Action Committee, Queer Unionists in Tertiary Education and the National Tertiary Casuals Committee.
COVID-19 impact on higher education sector The Council noted the catastrophic effects that COVID-19 has had on the tertiary education sector, including huge job losses and revenue shortfalls. This was compounded by the Federal Government blocking access to JobKeeper and the subsequent passing of the Job-Ready Graduates legislation. continued next page... Below:Alison Barnes and Matt McGowan during National Council.
Council agreed on a set of priorities updated from 2019/20: 1. Engaging in campaigning, public advocacy and action to ensure that the sector is supported by a stable and fair funding system. 2. Working at all levels to prevent job losses. 3. Continue to re-orient the work of NTEU to ensure that we build a culture that supports and prioritises organising in order to build our power and member engagement.
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ADVOCATE VOL. 27 NO. 3 ◆ NOV 2020
