Women front & centre in NTEU’s bargaining strategy

NTEU has always prioritised the concerns of women workers in our bargaining strategy, winning some ground-breaking conditions in Enterprise Agreements across the country. This round of bargaining in Australian universities is no different: the concerns of women members are central to the claims the Union is taking to the bargaining table.

Job security

The growth of insecure employment – both casual and fixed term – has exacerbated the career path disadvantage faced by women workers. The recent rounds of job cuts have further impacted on the gender distribution of the tertiary education workforce, with 61% of job losses incurred by women (see report, p. 8). NTEU is campaigning to reduce our industry’s addiction to insecure work and to provide real pathways for those stuck in casual and fixed term jobs to move to secure employment.

Working from home

When our workplaces were forcibly relocated to home, many parents discovered the joys of juggling work, home schooling, childcare and trying to keep our heads above water. Employer policies on working from home were written for a completely different era, but even so, we learned that employer fears that people would slack off were entirely misplaced. For many staff, particularly women with parental responsibilities, working part or all of our weeks from home might be a sensible long term option. NTEU is pursuing better Agreement provisions to facilitate this.

Transition leave

More than ever before, people are challenging the gender stereotype straightjackets that our society tries to pigeonhole us in. One expression of this is a growing number of staff who are declaring a gender identity different to that they have been known by. For some, this involves a need for employer support and leave provisions to deal with medical procedures, etc, associated with transition. NTEU is pursuing a claim to address this gap in our existing leave provisions.

Enforcing workload limits

In this round of bargaining, NTEU will ensure improved TOIL and overtime provisions for professional staff, in line with new Award standards, as well as seeking to prevent further job cuts. The days of squeezing more work out of a shrinking workforce must stop! While excessive workloads take a toll on everyone, it is clear that those with family responsibilities face much greater obstacles in maintaining the levels of overwork expected to flourish in our industry.

Putting women at the table

NTEU ensures that women’s voices take leading roles at the bargaining table, with gender composition a key factor in determining all of our negotiation teams.

Linda Gale, Senior Industrial Officer, NTEU Victorian Division