University workers demonstrate against council
BY NICK FREDMAN
LISMORE — All but three members of the Southern Cross University council slunk in the back door rather than face the 100 angry campus workers demonstrating outside for a better enterprise agreement.
Negotiations over a new agreement have dragged on since December 1998, punctuated by periodic industrial action. Management have attempted to remove a range of conditions, such as guarantees over staff numbers and workloads, and have refused to offer more than a 10% salary increase over five years.
National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) and Community and Public Sector Union negotiators have reduced their original claim but are determined to gain at least a 4% increase per year, in line with recent agreements for university and other public sector workers.
Unions have pointed out the university, with at least $24 million in reserves, can easily afford such an increase with no loss in jobs or conditions, and have questioned the university's spending priorities.
NTEU branch executive member Ron Dowell told the rally that recently appointed vice-chancellor John Rickard has already spent $180,000 of the university's funds on his residence and plans to spend several million dollars refurbishing the executive suite of the administration building.