WORKPLACE REFORM ABOUT REDUCED CONDITIONS, NOT REWARDING “HIGH FLYERS”
May 5 2005
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) rejects claims by education Minister Dr Nelson that further workplace reform is needed in the higher education sector so that universities can attract and keep top academics.
“While Minister Nelson claims his workplace reform proposals are all about rewarding “high flyers”, the detail doesn’t bear this out. In fact, his key proposal is that AWAs must prevail over the conditions in an Enterprise Agreement – the sole legal effect of which is to ensure AWA conditions can undercut those in an Enterprise Agreement,” said Mr Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary.
“So the real reason why Dr Nelson wants to introduce AWAs must be that he wants to allow sub-Agreement pay and conditions for university staff. If that’s the case, it’s ironic that Dr Nelson is calling for higher pay for academics,” said McCulloch.
“In any case, universities are already well-equipped to attract and reward top staff. Individual contracts can already be offered under current Enterprise Agreements, and existing Agreements currently provide for performance-based contracts for senior managers,” continued Mr Grahame McCulloch.
“Universities offer quality employment standards reflecting the international market within which universities work and the professional character of academic work. Around 30% of staff are already employed on an individual contract of some sort and the payment of market and merit allowances is widespread. In this environment, AWAs are clearly unnecessary.”
“Furthermore, Dr Nelson’s claim that universities cannot afford to keep top academics is a bit rich given the real cuts to funding universities have experienced since his Government has come to office,” continued McCulloch.
“NTEU estimates show that the funding universities receive for government-supported students (including students’ HECS contributions) fell in inflation adjusted terms by about $1740 per student or 13% between 1996 and 2003,” said McCulloch.
“This represents a real cut of more than ¾ billion dollars ($784m) in university funding for the year 2003 alone, when compared to 1996.”
“This fall in real funding is primarily due to the 5% cut in government funding in 1996 and a failure of successive governments to index universities grants to compensate for cost increases let alone inflation”, said McCulloch.
“The Minister should look to his own responsibilities first and reinstate indexation of government grants rather than seeking to make universities the scapegoat.” concluded McCulloch.
For comment:
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Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary |
(03) 9254 1910; 0418 322 620 |
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Ted Murphy, NTEU Assistant Secretary |
(03) 9254 1910; 0419 517 288 |