UNIVERSITY OF BALLARAT STAFF PASS MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE IN VICE-CHANCELLOR
MEDIA RELEASE
10 November 2005
University of Ballarat (UB) staff have overwhelmingly passed a motion of no confidence in the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kerry Cox, over his handling of the long-running dispute about enterprise bargaining, NTEU University of Ballarat Branch President Dr Jeremy Smith said today. The motion also called on senior management to negotiate a reasonable union-based agreement.
“The Vice-Chancellor has refused to recognise the significance of staff rejection of the previous proposed agreement 3 weeks ago. A majority of staff voted against the sub-standard agreement on offer and the University management is now proposing an agreement that differs little,” Dr Smith said.
“The latest agreement that staff will be asked to vote on is in fact worse than the previous rejected offer, as it doesn’t guarantee any pay rises beyond 13.5%. The Vice-Chancellor continues to deny staff adequate protections against unreasonable management actions by refusing to reinstate the important protections that have been stripped from the proposed agreement.”
“Under his management, the University has developed a climate where staff feel undervalued,” Dr Smith said.
NTEU General Secretary Grahame McCulloch said that the University of Ballarat is now the only university in Australia that has not finalised a new agreement that should meet the federal government’s requirements for additional funding, and maintains and protects most employment conditions.
“Professor Cox has been running an agenda that has alienated staff and has not been in the University’s best interests. Instead of acknowledging the views of staff clearly expressed in the recent ballot about conditions and representation, he has continued down the same destructive path, before washing his hands of the situation and heading to Western Australia in 2006,” Mr McCulloch said.
“UB staff at the meetings at campuses in Ballarat and Horsham today have called upon the University Council to relieve Professor Cox of responsibility for workplace relations and to direct management to negotiate a reasonable agreement that properly protects staff conditions and the University’s financial position.”
For further comment:
Grahame McCulloch, NTEU General Secretary 0418 322 620
Dr Jeremy Smith, NTEU Uni of Ballarat Branch President 0429 334 938