Management digs in at Melbourne Uni

By Jeremy Smith

MELBOURNE -- Up to 10 universities will be hit by industrial disputes this year as the National Tertiary Education Industry Union continues its national campaign for better salaries and conditions. A meeting of representatives from the NTEU's leading sites in late October resolved that strike action and bans on the transmission of students' results would raise the stakes in the battle between the institutions, federal government and union.

Education minister David Kemp and workplace relations minister Peter Reith have offered universities a $259 million subsidy for wage rises, if they can demonstrate “reforms” in industrial practices.

Comments by Prime Minister John Howard in parliament about the “Neanderthal” character of industrial relations in higher education betray government plans to attack the NTEU. The union has condemned the comments, while the vice-chancellors gave a mealy-mouthed response “defending” enterprise bargaining.

The government's offer comes after management offers were resoundingly rejected in staff ballots at the universities of NSW and Queensland. The strong NTEU branch at Victoria University will strike on November 10.

Management at the University of Melbourne continues its intransigence in enterprise bargaining negotiations, despite a successful strike on October 21. The strike was the first ever on that campus against senior management.

Most classes were cancelled. According to NTEU branch president Robert Evans, about two-thirds of the staff went out, revealing a significant level of support from union non-members. Some departments closed for the day.

Melbourne University is a significant site for the NTEU. The university's financial documents demonstrate that it has the capacity to meet the NTEU's demands -- even more capacity than did the University of Sydney, which recently agreed to better pay and conditions for staff.

Melbourne University is also significant because of its vice-chancellor's explicit support for Kemp and Reith's desire to sideline the NTEU. The university has established Melbourne University Private and seems to support the federal government's plans for further deregulation.

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