National Tertiary (NTCC

National Tertiary Casuals Committee (NTCC)

www.unicasual.org.au/ntcc

NTCC 2019–20

Representatives

Elizabeth Adamczyk Newcastle Dr Andrew Broertjes UWA Dr Tricia Daly Macquarie Ellyse Fenton UQ Victoria Fielding UniSA (from May 2020) James Harding Sydney (to Dec 2019) Annette Herrera Melbourne Lina Koleilat ANU Nathaniel Lau UTas (to Dec 2019) Dr Audrey Statham Deakin (to Apr 2020) Perpetua Turner UTas (from May 2020) William Wilding Swinburne Staff Support

Michael Evans National Office Lachlan Clohesy ACT Division

NATIONAL TERTIARY CASUALS COMMITTEE

In its first full year of operation, the NTCC has amplified the voices of casualised workers in our Union, developed a plan to implement NTEU priorities as they relate to casualisation, and set up structures to facilitate participation and democratic decision-making.

National Council 2019 NTCC met in person for the first time at National Council 2019. Six members were supported to make the trip to Melbourne to shape NTEU policy and priorities for the coming year, significantly enlarging the number of casual staff present at Council. While the Committee does not have voting rights at Council, the voices of casualised workers were heard loud and clear in discussion on the floor. Arguing that casualisation is core Union business, the NTCC helped to move an unopposed motion directing our Union to review industrial and organising approaches to de-casualisation in order to improve outcomes for casual staff in the 2021 round of bargaining.

Strategic Aims 2020-2022 Continuing discussions began at National Council, NTCC members developed a set of Strategic Aims to guide the Committee’s work to 2022.

The Strategic Aims Discussion Paper sets out four goals for the Committee to pursue in implementing NTEU priorities as they relate to casualisation. Full list of aims is available at www.unicasual.org.au/ntcc. Democratic structures The pandemic saw significant disruption to the momentum NTCC had built heading in to 2020. The Committee was not immune to the impact of COVID-19 on the sector, particularly on casualised workers who have no job security, or to the contentiousness of the Jobs Protection Framework, which divided workers throughout our Union. The Committee lost six members in 2019-20. In mid-2020, the empty Tasmanian, SA, and Queensland positions were filled. Workload pressures and turnover in the NTCC saw a shift in focus to strengthening democratic structures to support member participation and distribute labour and leadership. To this end, the NTCC is in the process of updating its Terms of Reference to ensure they reflect the lived realities of casualised workers. So far, this has meant adopting a rotating Chair and Secretary, setting meeting times democratically (including out-of-work-hours options), and creating a space to store Committee documents accessible to all members.

Shaping the future of our Union As uncertainty deepens in Australian higher education, it has never been more urgent to de-casualise our sector. The NTCC is working with the General Secretary and the Industrial and Legal Team to develop recommendations for furthering the goal of de-casualisation in the next round of bargaining. In addition, the Committee has contributed a motion to National Council 2020 aiming to strengthen the voice of casualised workers in our Union. ◆