Fed Up UNE Staff and Students Draw the Line
31 March 2004
Staff and students at University of New England (UNE) say
enough is enough and are taking action today. Academic and general staff are stopping work from 12
to 2pm as a result of anger about their enterprise bargaining negotiations and in support of student
concerns. Students are taking part in a national day of action protesting against reduced funding to
higher education, fee hikes and the abolition of the text book GST subsidy.
One
year after the bargaining process began at the University of New England for a new set of conditions
and a salary increase, the academic and general staff are still without a new Enterprise Agreement.
NTEU members are taking today's strike action in response to the lack of progress in bargaining
and UNE management's attempt to worsen UNE staff conditions.
Dr Tim Battin,
UNE Branch President of the NTEU, said that "this delay must now be an embarrassment to the
management of the University".
"In a round of bargaining that now has
settlements at Sydney Uni, UNSW, and ANU, and negotiations well advanced at Newcastle, UTS, UWS, and
Macquarie, UNE's management still has not made the general staff an overall pay offer; seeks to
remove the paid Christmas break; seeks to cut general staff annual leave; is not interested in any
significant improvement in maternity leave; wants to advance the Howard Government's AWA
agenda; and, intends to restrict the staff's freedom of expression", Dr Battin
observed.
Phil Schubert, President of the UNE Students Association said
"Five billion dollars has been stripped from higher education since the Howard Government came
to power and has put pressure on Universities like UNE . UNE is considering pushing further costs
onto students with a fee hike of up to 20% being debated. We know from experience that the higher
the fess, the lower the participation in education by students"
Staff and
students will be taking further action at the next UNE Council meeting on Friday this week with a
silent protest against the lack of progress in bargaining and the university debating a fee hike for
students of up to 20%. (The protest will be 4.30pm outside the Council at
Boolimimbah).
For further information
contact:
Tim Battin, NTEU UNE President ph. 02 6773
3155
Phil Schubert, UNESA ph. 02 6773 5102