Since August 2008, the staff union – the NTEU – has been trying to negotiate a new collective agreement with senior management. A collective agreement are the legally binding rules that cover the pay and conditions of all staff at the university.
The senior management of the University have consistently refused to seriously negotiate with staff. Strike action is a last resort.
Instead of consulting with staff, the Vice Chancellor announced in October last year that the University would sack over 270 staff – representing around a quarter of teaching staff.
This is the largest mass sacking in Australian university history, and comes at a time when the Federal Government is increasing funding to universities, and is calling on employers to protect jobs.
In addition to the 270 sacked staff, the Vice Chancellor declared that two campuses would be closed – Melton and Sunbury. The VC did not consult with the State or Federal Governments, with the local Melton and Sunbury communities, or with staff or students. This leaves those towns in the lurch, and shows that the VC is not interested in serving the Western Suburbs.
With one in four academics facing the sack, students will be seriously disadvantaged. The Vice Chancellor knows that if you have fewer teachers and more students, class sizes will go up. In order to help protect students from the worst class sizes in Australia, staff are taking action.
VU staff deserve respect from senior management. Major changes are being made across the university with no regard for the impact it will have on staff. University staff are professionals – they deserve to be genuinely consulted before decisions are made.
With 270 staff to go, workloads will inevitably increase for those staff who remain. This means over-worked and stressed lecturers and tutors; service staff with less time to devote to assisting students; administration staff overburdened. The University, staff and students will needlessly suffer as a result.
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