Industrial action at Sydney Uni

By Tyrion Perkins

SYDNEY -- Staff at the University of Sydney voted on February 10 to take industrial action over problems with the latest round of enterprise bargaining.

At a meeting of 300 National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) members, academics and general staff voted for a two-hour stop-work meeting on February 17, to be followed by a one-day strike on March 1 -- the first day of classes -- if no progress is made.

Management is offering a 1.75% pay increase, below the estimated inflation rate. In return for what, in real terms, is a wage cut, management's demands include: the removal of awards from enterprise agreements; a reduction in sick leave; a speeding up of redundancy procedures; an increased span of ordinary working hours for general staff, including Saturdays; more stringent academic discipline procedures; academic promotions to take place in rounds every two years instead of annually; restrictions on taking long service leave; and removal of the requirement to consult before making decisions about organisational change.

The NTEU is asking for a 19% pay increase over three years. In successive agreements, the pay of university employees has slipped further behind other sectors, and this increase seeks to make up some of that difference. The union is also concerned with job security and stopping the erosion of conditions as the number of students increases each year while the number of academics and general staff does not.

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