CPA - The Guardian

Libraries, IT, lectures, administration, tutorials and student assistance were all affected by industrial action at UQ on October 20. Library staff, IT staff, lecturers, admin staff, tutors and student support staff walked off the job at UQ in an attempt to get a new collective agreement containing better job security, regulated workloads and a 14 percent pay increase over the next three years.

This is the third time members of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) have taken industrial action in support of their claims, after a one-day strike on September 16 and a range of actions including bans on student results on October 1.

“Management just need to start listening to staff,” said UQ Library employee, Jeff Rickertt, “We aren’t asking for anything outrageous. Our main claims are for job security and fair workloads, but the University is actually trying to make it easier to get rid of staff”, he said.

Information Technology Services employee Michael Howard said, “General staff at UQ want some respect from management. We want to be able to participate in decisions that affect us, and the ability to work flexible working hours if we want, provided it’s workable.”

Dr Andrew Bonnell, Senior Lecturer in the School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classics and the UQ branch president of the NTEU said, “We recognise the economic circumstances have changed since we initiated bargaining more than 16 months ago, and have reduced what we are asking for in terms of pay rises. Somewhere between four and five percent a year for the next three years will at least mean staff aren’t going backwards.”

Next article – Win for Bethanie workers

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