By Jeremy Smith
For more than two years, the National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) has campaigned to restrict the use of contract staff in post-secondary education. On May 11, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission endorsed the union's claim that employers abused contract employment arrangements. It formulated the Higher Education Contract of Employment Award, which limits the spread of contract employment.
The new award also requires that current rolling contracts be converted to continuing positions. This will benefit thousands of academic and general education workers who have been subject to job insecurity.
The NTEU claimed the AIRC decision as a win for the union. However, the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, the employers' body, has asserted that the decision will lead to job losses.
It also indicated that universities will try to strip award conditions for continuing staff in the next round of enterprise bargaining. The award will lead to new inefficiencies and inflexibility in employment, it said.
NTEU general secretary Graham McCulloch told the Australian newspaper that this response was based on "ignorance, arrogance and vanity", and said that universities would save money in the long run under the new award.
The new award contains clear benefits for contract staff, but specifies some circumstances under which fixed-term contracts can be offered. These include positions funded from private sector sources and research-only positions. The award also includes severance pay in the event of non-renewal of contract at a rate equivalent to the rate for continuing staff, in most cases.
However, the award places no real limits on the use of casual employment. The NTEU has signalled that this is also an issue of high priority.
McCulloch told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that if employers are unwilling to negotiate, the union would initiate a national, industry-wide campaign to enforce the award. This would involve all general and academic staff. As many as 10,000 could be converted to continuing status as a result of this decision, McCulloch said.
"The employers are required to negotiate. If they choose to appeal to the Federal or Supreme Court, the union will be vigilant in the next round of enterprise bargaining to ensure that the employers adhere to the award. We think that we are in a strong position", McCulloch said.
On June 15, the NTEU begins a two-day national conference to begin planning a strategy for the next round of enterprise bargaining.