National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at the University of Sydney (USyd) are gearing up for a 24-hour strike on August 17 in support of an improved Enterprise Agreement (EA) they have been pushing since August last year. This will be their third industrial action this聽year.
More than 93% of the 350 NTEU members who attended a mass meeting on August 2 supported the strike motion. Members are angry about the university鈥檚 failure to address staff鈥檚 need for real pay raises beyond inflation and to halt forced redundancies and casualisation.
USyd NTEU president Nick Reimer told student paper on August 3 that 鈥淣TEU members voted to strike on August 17, and then [again] on Open Day [August 27], because we know how hostile the VC [vice-chancellor] and Provost are鈥.
He said they were ready for a protracted campaign of industrial disruption 鈥渦ntil we get the results we so badly need鈥. 鈥淲e鈥檙e in this for the long haul,鈥 Reimer said. 鈥淢anagement clearly wants to wear us down.鈥
The NTEU is also campaigning for improved rights for professional staff to work from home,聽protection of academics鈥 right to current research allocations,聽enforceable targets for First Nations employment and an end to overwork and exploitative casualisation.
Honi Soit reported that the union鈥檚 Bargaining Team said management鈥檚 pay rises offered so far were all below the rate of inflation, meaning that staff are being asked to agree to a real pay cut. USyd, however, recorded a $1.04 billion surplus last year.
Meanwhile, the聽-Usyd team鈥檚 campaign for the has included campus forums on neoliberal education and leafleting blitzes to build support for the August 17 strike. The elections opened on August 3 and will close on August 29.
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