GOVT. STRAPS UNIVERSITY STAFF INTO A RACE TO THE BOTTOM
Mon 22 Sept 2003
Universities are set to lose up to $404 million in Commonwealth Government funding unless they meet a range of hard line workplace relations requirements, including placing staff on individual contracts, according to the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).
The guidelines signal the Government’s intention to pursue major industrial confrontation in the higher education sector, particularly aimed at undermining the role of NTEU and other unions in the sector.
Under the guidelines, released on Monday, Australia’s 38 public universities will miss out on the additional funding, the largest single component of the Government’s Backing Australia’s Future package, unless they can demonstrate compliance with a number of policies, including placing university staff on Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) that override previously negotiated collective agreements.
“The policy guidelines released today by the Government are an unnecessary, unwarranted, bureaucratically complex and costly interference in the business of universities and the enterprise bargaining process,” said Mr Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary.
“Just as importantly, they will do nothing to do with dealing with the real workplace issues facing university staff, such as sky rocketing student to staff ratios and mounting job insecurity.”
“The Government should be very clear that the NTEU would resist these with all the legal, political and industrial means at its disposal.”
“Rather than supporting high quality conditions of employment negotiated between university staff and management, these policies will result in a race to the bottom that will see wages and conditions driven down across the higher education sector. The real loser will be university staff and the students they teach.”
In addition to the Government’s obsession with AWAs, in order to access additional Commonwealth funding university management will have to oversee a further weakening of consultative arrangements and the removal of existing restrictions on the use of casual and contract employment.
“Already half of university employees are employed on a casual or short term contract basis,” said Mr McCulloch. “The requirement that all restrictions on the type of employment at universities be removed will see an even more casualised workforce, with high quality staff leaving the sector for more secure jobs elsewhere.”
A fact sheet giving further details on the policies that universities will have to meet in order to access additional Commonwealth funding is attached with this media release.
Click here for the fact sheet
For information and comment:
Grahame McCulloch,
NTEU General Secretary: 0418 322 620 (ah 03 9370 8896)
Ken Mcalpine, Senior Industrial Advisor: 0418 357 499