In Case You Missed It

Secure Jobs & Safe Workloads – National Week of Action

NTEU is planning a National Week of Action, from 13-17 September, in support of secure jobs and safe workloads.

The week will feature activities designed to send a clear message to VCs to fix these issues during bargaining for pay and conditions. High levels of casualisation and fixed term contracts – at the same time as VCs cut jobs – is contributing to unsafe workloads in the sector. This is making it harder for members to deliver high quality education and research.

Come along to a live or online event to send a message to your management that enough is enough: Secure Jobs and Safe Workloads NOW!

Find out more at https://www.nteu.org.au/bargaining/nwa

Find activities at your local Branch at https://www.nteu.org.au/bargaining/nwa/activities

Send us your National Week of Action selfie!

Take part in the National Week of Action by sending us your selfie. We will include it along with hundreds of others in our social media blitz.

1. View or download our National Week of Action image: you can hold it up on your tablet, laptop, computer or print it out.

2. Email in your image to nwa@nteu.org.au ASAP before or during the week of action.

Get the Selfie image at https://www.nteu.org.au/bargaining/nwa/selfie

NTEU online action: Secure Jobs Now!

This session is a culmination of a week of NTEU activities at Branches demanding that management in universities bargain in good faith to create secure jobs, an issue widely and deeply felt by university members and staff.

Featuring Sally McManus, ACTU Secretary; Dr Alison Barnes, NTEU National President; Karen Douglas, RMIT Branch Secretary & Casual Academic; Mick Piotto, UniSA Bargaining Team & Casual Professional Staff.

In this session, Sally McManus will give a nationwide perspective on secure jobs. Karen Douglas and Mick Piotto will share their personal stories and what they mean to the campaign. We will talk about the various activities over the past week and ask participants to be part of a visual action on Zoom.

Register for this session at https://nteu.info/securejobs

Support QUT Sessional Staff

QUT sessional NTEU members are campaigning against the degrading standards for job security, increased workloads, and wage theft issues staff are facing at the hands of management’s COVID cost-cutting.

Sign the Petition at http://www.nteu.org.au/qut/petition

Intellectual freedom protected under union Agreement

In a landmark decision in the Federal Court, NTEU has won a case which ruled USyd staff have a legal right to be protected from disciplinary action when exercising intellectual or academic freedom, under the terms of the NTEU Enterprise Agreement.

The decision found that the employer-written code of conduct was subordinate to the union Agreement when it came to protecting the rights of staff to express academic and intellectual opinions.

NTEU NSW petition for paid vaccination leave

We support the ambition to get people vaccinated as soon as possible, but we are concerned that without paid time off many higher education workers will be left struggling to find time to get vaccinated on weekends and before/after work.

Some universities have agreed. Is your University still a holdout? Sign our petition & help get them on board!

Sign the Petition at http://bit.ly/vaxleave

Dr Ziggy Switkowski resigns as RMIT Chancellor

Dr Ziggy Switkowski has resigned from his position as Chancellor of RMIT University after a group of NTEU delegates drafted an Open Letter demanding that he step down due to his appointment as Chair of the Crown Resorts Board. The letter stated that given RMIT values include being 'agents of positive change for our students, the community and beyond', it is simply untenable that he continue in his role of Chancellor.

USyd casual staff win back pay

Casual staff in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney have won back two hours of administration pay after it was axed entirely in 2020. While the USyd Casuals Network said the move was a 'significant win,' it falls short of the four hours allocated previously.

New ACT Division Secretary

Congratulations to the new ACT Division Secretary, Dr Lachlan Clohesy, and new Assistant Secretary, Lina Koleilat.

'I’m incredibly humbled by the trust and support of my fellow members,' said Dr Clohesy. 'I look forward to working closely with members across our workplaces to build the power necessary for maintaining and extending our wages and conditions as we approach a post-COVID bargaining environment.'

Congratulations to all who stood for elections and thank you to outgoing Division Secretary, Dr Cathy Day, for all of her work.

New WA Division Secretary

Congratulations to Dr Cathy Moore who has been elected as WA Division Secretary.

'If we want to change the future we need to stand together in solidarity, raise our collective voices, and resist the managerialism and corporatisation that is not only threatening to destroy our workplaces, but also impeding our ability to enrich society through education and research.'

Cathy was formerly ECU NTEU Branch President, NTEU WA Division President, and worked with ECU's Centre for Learning and Teaching. •

National Student Safety survey

The National Student Safety Survey is being conducted as part of the Respect. Now. Always. Initiative.

From 6 September – 3 October 2021, students will be randomly selected to participate in the survey.

Students who are not randomly selected can still have a say by visiting the survey website.

Find out more at https://www.srcentre.com.au/our-research/safety-survey