January 2018
Quadrant University of Sydney
In this issue: 1 Sydney Talent 2 Managing Change & Job Security 2 Student Centre 2 Pay Rise for All Staff 3 Casual Rights 3 Staff Participation in decisions 3 Centre for English Teaching 4 Scholarly Teaching Fellowships 4 Education-focused Roles 4 Counter-Report 4 Other new rights in the EA
We had plenty of wins to celebrate last year.... Here’s our top picks! NTEU members at Sydney University led an active and visible enterprise bargaining campaign in 2017 to deliver industry-leading workplace entitlements that will benefit all staff employed at the University of Sydney for years to come. The NTEU has also fought against outrageous change proposals, toxic management practices, and exploitative employment arrangements this year. All these wins have been achieved by the hard work and dedication of NTEU members – we know our rights, and we work together to ensure those rights are respected. We also know that there’s more to do to ensure that our workplace rights are respected, and to progress our vision of the University as a public institution that serves the public good. We want you to be involved too!
Sydney Talent
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One of our wins during the recent enterprise bargaining campaign was a commitment from management to bring all Sydney Talent employees under the Enterprise Agreement. This means a very significant pay increase for many. Sydney Talent was a job placement company owned by the University that was employing staff (typically students) to perform work at the University outside of our Enterprise Agreement. This outrageous arrangement meant that hundreds of people were being employed to perform university work on pay rates and conditions far worse than those set out in our Enterprise Agreement. At the start of November the University announced that Sydney Talent was being wound up completely. All Sydney Talent staff with on-going work will become employees of the University. This is a great win for those staff and our union. If you are a Sydney Talent employee, or if you are working alongside a Sydney Talent employee, get in touch with the branch if you have any concerns about the transition arrangements. We have been told that all employees with on-going work should be offered a contract, and we’re keen to ensure that all former Sydney Talent employees are treated fairly. And if you hear of any new contracting or agency arrangements being put in place, make sure you get in touch with the Branch – we are determined to ensure that university management does not use contracting arrangements to avoid obligations to provide the pay and conditions set out in the Enterprise Agreement.
NTEU University of Sydney Branch Room 390, Merewether Building H04, Darlington Campus ph 9351 2827 | sydney@nteu.org.au | www.nteu.org.au/sydney Published by National Tertiary Education Union. Authorised by Kurt Iveson, Branch President, University of Sydney
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NTEU Newsletter – January 2018
NTEU Newsletter – January 2018
NTEU wins pay rise for all staff
Managing Change and Job Security – shaping the University we want Large changes are still to come in 201819 related to the Faculty and Service Operating Models. We have made some gains in relation to the process of managing change and improving job security for professional staff. These include: - The introduction of a new ‘stage’ of the change management process ensuring that management engage in discussions with staff about change before formal change plans are written; - improved requirements regarding the provision of information in change proposals, including relevant consultant reports, relevant financial information, Organisational charts and proposed mapping information; - The introduction of an extended 9 month redeployment period for HEO1-7 staff until the end of 2019. It is no secret that as a result of the University’s Strategic Plan, a tidal wave of change proposals will likely be released in coming months. Steven Garton confirmed this fact at one of the Town Hall meetings this year. NTEU members have a huge role to play in making sure that management’s obsession with restructuring doesn’t undermine the important work done by our members every day at this University. Effective, proactive union campaigns are crucial to upholding rights in change processes, and can sometimes even extend those rights beyond those specified in the Agreement (as was the case in the Service Innovation Program for Science earlier in 2017). This time last year, in the Faculty of Science, over 90 Administrative and Technical staff were at threat of having their jobs made redundant or drastically downgraded as a result of the SIPS proposal. NTEU members actively campaigned against the changes, using a petition to collect hundreds of signatures and urging all staff to write submissions to the proposal. After several meetings with management, the NTEU secured a ‘grandparenting’ arrangement for all staff whose jobs
As a result of the NTEU’s campaign, all staff will receive four separate pay increases of 2.1% over the life of the agreement. In addition to this, there will be an extra $500 uplift in annual pay rates for HEO Levels 1 – 6 and Academic Levels A1 – A6 (paid on 30 June 2018), which will mean a proportionately larger pay rise for the lowest paid members of staff, including casuals. At the end of 2017, all fixed-term and ongoing staff will also receive a one-off payment of $500. Over the life of the agreement, superannuation payments for all fixed-term staff will be progressively increased to 17%. These pay rises have only been achieved through the hard work of union members – both at the bargaining table and through our broader enterprise agreement campaign.
appeared in the new structure at lower levels. Those staff were able to keep their roles, with full salary maintenance at their current level for 5 years (the current EA specifies 6 months). Similarly, after a major public campaign to prevent the University from closing Sydney College of the Arts, all SCA staff who wished to continue in their positions were given a role in the new structure. Don’t wait for these changes to sweep your job away. Contact the branch office to assist you to run a workplace meeting in your Faculty or Department today, and draw on the experience the branch has to equip you to prepare for change. Getting on the front foot will make a big difference to the outcomes you and your colleagues experience.
Casual Rights Casualisation continues to be a growing problem at the University of Sydney, in both academic and professional staff employment. During the life of the last Enterprise Agreement, the percentage of total hours worked by casuals increased from 16% to over 20%. That work is performed by a huge pool of over 2000 casual staff persons. Above: NTEU members take action in 2017 to demand better working conditions at the University of Sydney Photo: NTEU
Student Centre The Student Centre is a crucial part of the University which provides information to existing and future students, as well as academic staff. Toxic working conditions have been a problem since its establishment. Among the main concerns are: -
- 4 hour payment at the start of every contract for regular casuals to familiarise themselves with workplace policies and procedures; - Entitlement to pay for academic casuals who perform preparatory work that cannot be delivered due to illness;
- Improved conversion rights (reduction of time until conversion application from 24 months to 12 months for casuals appointed through merit process, and introduction of conversion opportunities for casuals not appointed through merit process after 24 months); - Right to fixed-term contracts for casuals who unsuccessfully apply for conversion; - A high level working party
union-management on casualisation.
Casual staff are encouraged to contact the branch to discover ways to work together with others facing similar working conditions, to better the working lives of people who do this work.
Intimidation and poor communication from Student Centre managers;
- Over-reliance on casual staff, who suffer from precarious working conditions while the on-going staff are forced to constantly train new staff; -
While we seek to reduce casualisation, we have also won several new rights for casual staff. These include:
- Stated commitments to pay casuals for all work performed, and to ensure that all work can be performed in time allocated;
Lack of stability and transparency in workplace structures and systems;
- Inadequate staffing to handle the volume of enquiries, resulting in high workloads for all staff in the centre and long wait times for students and staff. In 2016, the NTEU intervened in support of dozens of casuals who were terminated at very short notice, despite having been promised work for months. In 2017, NTEU members staged a rally outside the Student Centre in 2017 to highlight these issues. NTEU members in the Student Centre are now finally starting to see positive change in their workplace. With the support of their union colleagues across the University, they have been courageous and persistent in seeking to have their dignity, skills and rights respected in their workplace. They have documented their deteriorating situation, and the NTEU has held several meetings with senior management to have staff concerns taken seriously. As a consequence, a recent draft change plan has proposed changes in management personnel, a decrease in the use of casual contracts to cover peak periods, and more clarity and transparency in management structures and communication. The change plan is certainly not perfect, and the NTEU has worked with members to make a detailed submission on its limitations. The process is on-going – and its outcome will be crucial not only for staff there, but for the entire University. Watch this space….!
Staff participation in decisions - important new opportunities Staff participation in decision-making was a key feature of the NTEU bargaining campaign, underpinned by the desire to ensure that university staff and students should be involved in decisions that affect the university. Our fight against rampant managerialism at the University will be assisted by some new participation structures, in particular: - The introduction of new Local Joint Consultative Committees (JCCs) for staff and management in key areas of the University for professional staff; - The formal introduction of local democratic processes (including a representative of casual academic staff) for establishing and reviewing academic
workload policies in all academic workplaces across the University. These committees will be important opportunities for union members to raise issues directly with management, and to escalate those issues where necessary to higher-level university committees where the NTEU has formal representation. Where members take up positions on these committees, they will have the potential to deliver greater collegiate participation in decisions that affect day to day activities of the staff who deliver quality learning, teaching, research and support services to students. We will be contacting you to invite your participation in the New Year.
Centre for English Teaching - a great year for our members NTEU members at the CET were outstandingly successful in 2017. Continuing an organising effort that has been sustained over the past few years, NTEU delegates worked to build membership in the Centre, which has doubled over this year. In the course of representing the concerns of CET staff on the Staff Consultative Committee, NTEU delegates identified a clear set of priorities for improving the conditions for staff at the centre. These were developed into claims that CET bargaining representatives negotiated with CET management for the new Enterprise Agreement. As a result of the hard work of CET bargaining representatives over months of negotiations, backed by a growing and committed NTEU membership at the Centre, each of the claims put forward by the NTEU for CET staff were successful and will be in the conditions of the new Enterprise Agreement. Some major bargaining achievements for CET staff: - for the first time at the Centre, there will be recognition of external English teaching experience in determining continuing staff salary levels. - a 25% increase in continuing positions at the Centre. - enhanced opportunities for casual staff to be appointed into continuing positions. The accomplishments of the NTEU delegates and members at CET are an inspiration for our efforts to improve conditions in other work places across the University.
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NTEU Newsletter – January 2018
Counter Report
Scholarly Teaching Fellowships - a new name, with new rights and clearer transition pathways While the introduction of Scholarly Teaching Fellowships and Early Career Development Fellowships in the last agreement has ensured permanent employment for over 120 people, some people in STF roles have faced excessive workload demands. In the new EA there are several improvements: - all STFs and ECDFs will become ‘Academic Fellows’, and a total of 120 will be maintained for the life of the Agreement – meaning that there will be new opportunities as the current cohort of STFs make the transition to standard teaching-and-research positions; - no Academic Fellow can be required to have more than 70% of their workload allocated to teaching, and it is also made very clear that people in these roles can be employed with more balanced workloads (including 40-40-20); - a straightforward pathway into standard teaching-and-research positions after three years has been established, for any Academic Fellow appointed at either Level A or B. - the rights of Academic Fellows to be promoted have been confirmed, and promotion to Level C will immediately trigger a ‘conversion’ to standard academic employment.
NTEU members recently launched the 2017 edition of our ‘Counter-Report’ into the university. This is the second Counter-Report we have produced.
A new challenge: 120 advertised EducationFocused Roles Management’s main agenda in this round of bargaining was an attempt to change the nature of academic work. We fought off the threat to 40-40-20 as the standard form of academic employment. However, the new Enterprise Agreement will give the University the ability to advertise up to 120 ‘Education-Focused Roles’. We are told that these roles are especially necessary in areas of clinical education, and this was confirmed by many NTEU members during bargaining. Nevertheless, we will need to be watchful about where they are advertised, how they are constructed, what work they are required to perform, and the experience of people employed in these roles. Staff employed in these roles will have the ability to engage in research if they develop an approved research plan, and we will also need to monitor such applications to ensure they are treated fairly.
The articles assembled in this Counter-Report have been written by NTEU members in response to a call for contributions at the beginning of the year. They tackle a wide range of issues, from the University’s Strategic Plan and curriculum ‘reform’ to matters like casualisation, management culture, the new undergraduate curriculum, overwork and work-life balance, sexual assault and racism on campus, and the University’s engagement with China. We’re proud to provide a space for these critical voices and engagements – because we believe that our university is advanced, not undermined, by robust debate. You may not agree with everything in the publication but we’re sure you’ll be productively provoked – and that’s the point. We’re also proud to highlight some of the ways that staff, working together as members of the NTEU, have fought back against the injustices – by supporting one another in the face of individual bullying managers and/ or in the face of structural change. You can read the entire report here: https://issuu.com/nteu/ docs/171107_20usyd_20counterreport3
Other new rights in the 2018-2021 Enterprise Agreement - Paid primary care-givers leave for all, regardless of gender identification, with improved rights to return to work and reduced re-qualification period for any subsequent periods of parental leave; - Improved access to flexible working arrangements – removal of restrictions on who can apply, so that all staff are eligible to apply for things like part-time work, job-sharing, working at home, and career breaks; -17% Superannuation for all fixed-term staff by the end of the Agreement.