Staff and students joined in the march to Belmore Park.

University staff and students take joint action

By Kerri Carr

National Tertiary Education Union university staff and students across Australia took joint strike action on October 16 to protest against the Howard Government's attacks on tertiary education in recently released legislation.

Staff and students held pickets at most campuses and there was a march from the front lawns of Sydney University via the University of Technology, Sydney to Belmore Park for a rally.

On September 22 the Federal Government announced its Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements.

AEU Federal Industrial Officer Linda Gale said the requirements "imposed a raft of conditions that universities must meet in their certified agreements and industrial practices before they can access increases in Commonwealth Grants Scheme funding".

"The Education Minister is given wide discretion to introduce whatever additional conditions (s)he likes, but the September statement enumerates at least 13 requirements that the government intends to impose," Ms Gale said.

She said in order to receive up to $404 million in funding, universities would be required to "include clauses in all certified agreements which allow for individual agreements to completely displace the terms of the collective agreement, actively promote Australian Workplace Agreements [AWAs] to all staff" and "ensure there are non-union staff 'representatives' on all consultative structures and grievance committees".

Also, universities would be required to "remove all on-campus union offices, deny unions access to contact information for staff, including union members, refrain from any activities which might be seen as encouraging union membership, like allowing union information to be circulated during the induction of new staff" and "reduce all existing conditions (including things such as paid maternity leave, misconduct procedures, redundancy pay) to 'community standards' except where a special case can be made".

Ms Gale said Vice-Chancellors condemned the package as "intrusive interference" and "unhelpful micro-management" by the Government.

National Union of Students state branch president Anna York said the reforms were an attack on workers' rights.

"They propose to introduce AWAs to replace pattern bargaining in the staff unions, and to make legitimate forms of industrial action illegal," Ms York said.

"They are also an attack on students with dramatic fee increases, course cuts and the deregulation of university fees.

"If these reforms are passed, universities will be changed forever."

An online petition is available at www.nteu.org.au//policy/crossroads/petition.

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October 2003 contents