Michelle Slater
Strike action is escalating at all Federation University campuses with National Tertiary Education Union members planning to down tools tomorrow.
Union members – including those from the Churchill campus- voted to stop work for 24 hours over concerns relating to job security, fair pay for casual staff and restructuring.
It comes as the university’s business school union members are on an indefinite strike, pending negotiations with management, over impending course cuts.
NTEU FedUni branch president Mathew Abbott accused management of refusing to accept measures to ensure job security and the right for staff to work from home.
Dr Abbott also accused FedUni of refusing to give casuals fair pay and other proposals from staff during enterprise bargaining.
“Union members are looking forward to showing solidarity with their business colleagues as we stop work for 24 hours to show management enough is enough,” Dr Abbott said.
“These staff are showing immense courage and determination which is an inspiration to all FedUni staff suffering from management’s addiction to restructures.”
Union members will be joining a mass protest at the Ballarat campus tomorrow.
Dr Abbott said the strike would “send a clear message” to the FedUni bargaining team to “return to the table and get serious about our reasonable claims”.
“NTEU members are fed up with FedUni management’s capricious and tardy approach to bargaining,” he said.
A Federation University Australia spokesperson had previously stated that said the university wanted a “fair outcome” for all its staff, “but it must be sustainable”.
The spokesperson said they remained hopeful of reaching a “fair result” for all staff, “while recognising the need to be fiscally responsible during a challenging time for the university sector”.
“Universities across Australia have been hit hard by COVID-19, with falling student numbers impacting our budgets and forcing us to make difficult choices,” the spokesperson said.
