NTEU supports national day of action
By Jo Brown
SYDNEY — Meetings of the NTEU branches at Sydney and New South Wales Universities last week decided to support the National Day of Action on May 8 to defend public education.
A meeting of around 300 union members at Sydney University voted to call on members to attend the rally, to reschedule classes for the day and not to penalise students who attend the rally. Further discussion about the position of the branch on the introduction of up-front fees for undergraduate students was deferred to next meeting.
At the University of New South Wales, an NTEU branch meeting voted for a similar motion, and staff are planning to support the rally.
The importance of the staff-student alliance in fighting education cuts has been highlighted recently by both academic and general staff union members voting on the Sydney University Senate in favour of up-front fees.
The enterprise bargaining deal at Melbourne University, where the NTEU branch voted by a small margin to accept a pay increase tied to revenue from up-front fees, has also caused the student campaign concern.
The New South Wales Cross Campus Education Network passed a motion at its last meeting condemning the Melbourne University decision, and calling on academics and general staff to join students in the campaign against fees. A coordinating committee involving students and union representatives has also been set up to help develop these links.
At Sydney University, a joint staff-student forum will be held on April 23 to discuss the need for an alternative to the Liberals' agenda for education. At Macquarie University, a regular coordinating meeting between staff and students has also been established.