UNION CAMPAIGN TARGETS MOUNTING LEVEL OF ACADEMIC CASUALISATION AT UNIVERSITIES
28 February, 2007
Mounting casual academic employment in our universities and the risk this poses to quality is the target of a major nationwide campaign launched by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) on Wednesday.
“The growing casualisation of the academic workforce and the challenge this poses to universities in terms of providing quality teaching and research is one of the most serious issues facing the higher education sector, said Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President.
“While it is difficult to know the exact number of casuals employed in universities because the staffing figures are reported in ’full-time equivalence’ rather than the actual body count, we believe that over 50% of the employment growth since 1995 has been casual.”
“The majority of this figure comprises casual academics employed largely to deliver teaching, whether by lectures, tutorials or other means.”
“The fact that casual academics are only paid on an hourly basis is a major impediment to them performing their job to the best of their ability.”
“Whereas full-time academics are paid for their research and teaching, casuals are expected to maintain their academic qualifications and remain up to date in their field in their own time.”
“Students are also disadvantaged because casual staff are usually not paid for spending extra time with students, or in some cases are simply unable due to so due to factors such as other work commitments, a situation that particularly disadvantages those students requiring special support such as those from non-English speaking backgrounds.”
“While some casual academics like the flexibility, most find the experience difficult, alienating and stressful.”
As part of our campaign, NTEU has commenced an on-line survey of casual academic staff to better understand the issues affecting them. Among the issues identified so far are:
- Rates of pay approaching the minimum wage once extra unpaid hours marking and answering e-mails from students are included.
- Lack of entitlements such as sick leave and long service leave.
- Lack of access to basic facilities such as desks, a phone, a computer, stationary, a printer and a resource library.
- Lack of career development. Many casuals are students working for the same university which they hope will award them a higher degree. Their experience often discourages them from pursuing longer-term research careers, a significant problem given the demographic challenges facing the academic profession.
“The Federal Government has mandated that there will be no restrictions on casual employment levels in universities,” said Dr Allport. “As a result we are seeing growing numbers of academic staff teach a full load yet being paid only the hour.”
“In addition to the on-line survey, the Union will be dedicating increased resources to organising and recruiting casual academics across the sector.”
Information and Comment:
Dr Carolyn Allport, NTEU President: 03 9254 1910
Josh Cullinan, NTEU Industrial Officer: 03 9254 1910
For more information about the NTEU’s casual academics campaign see www.unicasual.com.au