Macquarie University
Posts tagged with NSW government
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Higher education workers support teachers in their fight against casualisation
It has been reported this week that nearly 20,000 new primary and secondary teachers will need to be employed over the next five years to replace staff reaching retirement.
This comes as proposed NSW government reforms will hand control of staffing to local principals, allowing them to replace long-serving, permanent teachers with casual and short-term arrangements.
NSW Teachers Federation President, Maurie Mulheron, is concerned recent graduates will be exploited to achieve a cheaper workforce. He said:
“What we will have is a totally deregulated staffing structure, with an increasing number of temporary positions, no incremental pay scale and no guaranteed executive structure."
''The department and the minister see this as a golden time. They can exploit the fact there are a lot of young people coming in and a cheaper workforce. But they can also change the culture by putting them on short-term or casual arrangements. We're extremely worried about the future of the profession.''
The attacks facing NSW teachers are similar to those faced by higher education staff. Our sector has already seen a dramatic increase in precarious employment, with as many as 77,000 staff in Australian universities employed as casuals. Large-scale casualisation has begun to undermine the sustainability of the academic profession in Australia.
Branch Contacts
Branch Office
Bdg 93 City Campus
RMIT University
Phone: 03 9925 8062
Fax: 03 9925 8030
nteu@rmit.edu.au
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Melissa Slee
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melissa.slee@rmit.edu.au
Sam Maynard
Branch Organiser
smaynard@nteu.org.au


