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The Sydney University National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) organised a rally in trying weather conditions on Wednesday 5th August. They were joined by lively contingents from the Student Representative Council, Sydney University Postgrad Student Association, Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alternative, Greens members and staff from a variety of departments.

Kyol Blakney, SRC president gave an acknowledgement of country and condemned the corporatism of universities.

NTEU branch President, Michael Thomson, reported that Sydney University management is seeking to radically restructure and centralise a range of services across the university. He said: “Changes include existing positions are declared redundant through intimidation ‘spill and fill’ processes and in lieu of training and development options.

“This is bullying,” he said. “Staff members who could be relocated or retrained are told they have to apply for new jobs that are much the same as their existing positions.”

Alma Torlakovic, an NTEU member said workers are already overworked, having to work overtime in peak times such as enrolment and exams.

She said: “We need more staff, not less. It is highly stressful to have to reapply for their jobs. Management is making staff reapply if they don't meet the new selection criteria. But in that case they should be given training. It’s a no-brainer.”

Torlakovic noted the attacks are happening at universities when education minister Pyne is once again “pushing fee deregulation and has produced a book that is being placed into the horror and crime section of bookstores”.

National President of the NTEU Jeannie Rea addressed the rally: “Sydney University is following Melbourne's path and adopting a 'Business Improvement Program' (BIP), which spilled many staff jobs and didn't consult staff about the changes. Why would you consult staff, when they are he ones who run the departments?

“A high turnover of staff happened across the board, where they had to apply for their own jobs. But the job descriptions they were given were not the same as the job they had. It divided people from one another and they felt very abandoned by the university. The union campaigned hard against this.

“Six months after this BIP was implemented at Melbourne University what had happened?

“Well my partner who works there gets to work at 8am and doesn't get home till 7:30pm. People are not treated with dignity or respect. And they are still restructuring Melbourne University. They just don't stop.”

“In a national survey of 7000 university workers, half said they felt insecure, that they feared losing their job. They are doing 5.7 hours of unpaid overtime, which equals 7 million hours per year or 4000 full time jobs. This saves about $3 million for university bosses.

Thompson said: “We will stand and fight these cuts. We spent seven days on the grass against management cuts. We stood and fought then. Our demands are: no ‘spill and fill’ of positions, no more cuts to staffing, commit to retrain and develop staff, and support staff input into planning.”

[A national day of action to oppose fee deregulation will be held on August 19 at 1pm on the Law Lawns, Eastern Avenue, Sydney University.]

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