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NSW Parliament condemns Steven Schwartz

Posted 2 December 2010 by Cathy Rytmeister (Macquarie University)

Yesterday the NSW Upper House unanimously endorsed the following motion proposed by Dr John Kaye.

1. That this House notes that:

(a) for the past two years the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has been attempting to negotiate collective agreements for staff at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University that guarantee:
   (i) competitive pay rises,
   (ii) job security,
   (iii) reductions in contract and casual employment,
   (iv) the restoration of employment standards stripped away by the Howard Federal
Government’s Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRRs)
and WorkChoices,

(b) the managements of both universities have frustrated all reasonable attempts by the NTEU
and staff to reach a negotiated outcome,

(c) NTEU members at 30 universities have already achieved collective agreements which
deliver these guaranteed employment standards, and five other universities are close to
settlement,

(d) approximately 150 NTEU members at the University of New South Wales and Macquarie
University, driven by the lack of progress and the university administration's intransigence
particularly on job security and reducing contract and casual employment, have imposed
bans on the transmission of examination results, and

(e) while the members imposing bans have offered to perform their full range of duties except
for the transmission of results and attendance at certain meetings, management has rejected
this offer and will not pay any salary to these members for the duration of the bans, which
may well involve the loss of thousands of dollars for each member, many of whom are on
relatively low salaries or are employed casually.

2. That this House:

(a) condemns the Vice-Chancellors of the University of New South Wales and Macquarie
University for failing to negotiate a successful outcome while 30 other universities
administrations have done so, mostly without the need for sustained and bitter industrial
action by staff, and

(b) calls on the University of New South Wales and Macquarie University to:
    (i) immediately re-open negotiations with staff and the NTEU in good faith to achieve
an outcome that reflects the need for competitive pay rises, job security, a reduction
in contract and casual employment and a restoration of employment standards,
    (ii) pay those members imposing bans for the work they have performed and are willing
to perform while the partial bans are in place.