University staff to strike over university funding

by Petermac

Universities around the nation are expected to grind to a halt on October 
16, as staff hold a one-day strike over the Howard Government's draconian 
higher education policies. The National Tertiary Education Union and the 
Community and Public Sector Union have called the strike over the new 
policies, which will result in massive infringements of educational 
standards and employees' rights.

If implemented, the new policies would result in universities being able to 
increase their fees by 30 percent. All current limits on the extent of 
contract employment would be lifted and university authorities would, in 
effect, be called on to pressure their employees to sign individual work 
contracts.

The Government also threatens that University funding would be cut if a 
university agreed to introduce employee wages and conditions better than 
the current "community standard", in effect, blocking any future 
improvements in wages and conditions over that level.

The government recently announced that university funding would be 
conditional on them introducing new measures in conformity with its 
policies. At the time of the announcement, the Senate of Sydney University 
was about to sign a new workplace agreement with their staff which would 
have set a precedent for other universities.

The agreement included improvements in conditions, for example, the 
introduction of new maternity leave provisions. However, the announcement 
caused the Senate to postpone signing the agreement and, as a result, many 
new agreements at other universities have been cancelled or postponed.

Maternity leave

The loss of the new provisions regarding maternity leave will impose 
particular hardships on women employees and students. As Suzanne Hammond, 
Federal Women's Industrial Officer, recently pointed out: "Women in the 
sector . stand to lose their superior entitlements to maternity leave, 
family leave, higher superannuation contributions and other benefits. The 
removal of protection of casual workers would see many full-time and part-
time jobs transferred to casual employment with little protection".

The national president of the NTEU, Carolyn Allport, points out that the 
government's position on university employment contradicts the Workplace 
Relations Act, which bars third parties from involvement in enterprise 
bargaining. She commented: "In this case the government is the third party. 
It is intervening against its own workplace relations legislation".

Excluding students

The government's policies will also exclude many students from gaining a 
university position. The deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of 
Western Australia, Alan Robson, stated last week that the government's 
demand that over-enrolments be eliminated means that some 8000 students 
would probably be denied entry to university.

He noted that universities currently receive $2700 to educate "marginally 
funded" students in over-enrolled courses, as opposed to some $10,000 for 
fully-funded students. There are now some 33,000 positions in the over-
enrolled courses, of which the government proposes to fully fund 25,000, 
leaving a shortfall of 8000 positions.

Mr Robson said that he expected these students to be turned away, "because 
the government is not going to fund you for over-enrolments".

These and other obstacles will pose particular difficulties for women 
students. As Suzanne Hammond noted, "A woman who intends to spend some of 
her working life in part-time employment can expect to pay 23 percent more 
for gaining a qualification. Many women may decide that it is just not 
worth it! This is a backward step in gaining gender equality".

Gaining a place in a university will be made harder by the new 
requirements. Given the operation of the law of supply and demand, it is 
expected that the score needed by school students to gain university entry 
will rise significantly if the number of available university places falls.

Solidarity

The president of the National Union of students, Daniel Kyriacou says, 
"Students will either miss out on university places or pay dearly if they 
get a place under these so-called reforms".

The Council of Postgraduate Associations has said its members will walk off 
the universities in support of the university employees' strike, and the 
National Union of Students is considering doing the same thing.

Howard's new Minister for Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews has indicated 
that he will retain the policies imposed by his predecessor, Tony Abbott. 
The stage is set for a major showdown on October 16.