Queensland Casuals Forum
A very successful Casual and Sessional Academic staff Forum was
held on June 20th 2007 at Griffith University, with over 30 casual
staff attending.The key issues that were identified by those attending were:
1. Gross overwork resulting from
a) inadequate paid time to fully mark assignments, and
b)the commitment of casuals to support students by adequate (but unpaid) marking time.
This results in casuals being effectively exploited in terms of the money they are paid for the work they feel is necessary to do. The widespread use of email has added significantly to their workload with no increases in remuneration
2. The insecurity of casual work, since casuals rely on the good graces of supervisors to provide future work, and therefore are unwilling to stand up for themselves or complain too much.
3. The lack of supportive resources (facilities, email & phone access, support for research such as conference attendance, etc)
4. The lack of awareness of casuals about their entitlements, and of supervising (tenured) staff about casuals conditions
5. Career paths for casuals