Respect at work is a reasonable workload!

A message from NSW State Secretary, Genevieve Kelly, about why NTEU CSU members are taking action on 9 September.

NTEU members at Charles Sturt University (CSU) are taking 24 hour strike action today (Sept 9) to restore the respect due to CSU staff through this round of Collective Bargaining, and to address issues that are a barrier to maintaining quality university education and research.  Combating excessive workloads and the right to have real input into proposed changes in the university systems and structures are among the issues that NTEU has put on the table for discussion through the current Collective Bargaining process.

NTEU presented CSU management with their log of claims in June 2008 but virtually no progress was made towards a new agreement until NTEU conducted a ballot of members in August 2009 and gained their endorsement for industrial action.  CSU staff have now resolved to go on strike on 9 September.  “Taking industrial action is not something NTEU or its members want to do, but CSU management’s failure to reach an agreement over fundamental issues, in particular workloads, has left them with little choice,” said NTEU CSU Branch President, Dr Len Palmer.

The current collective bargaining agreement contains no limits to academic workloads; what limits that exist are at the grace and favour of the head of the academic unit.

“Workloads are of major concern to staff at CSU, who are suffering ever increasing demands on their time.  This is not only an issue for staff as they attempt to find a balance between run away workloads and finding time for their families,” Dr Palmer said.

He said it is also a concern for students who find staff are being pressed to spend less time on student contact and assessment feedback.  “Some internal students have even reported that some of their subjects are only available in distance mode, with no face to face contact with a lecturer at all.”

Another issue of concern to staff at CSU is their ability to have effective input to the changes that CSU management make to educational delivery, and the structures and systems that support it.  “Staff are employed at CSU because of expertise that they have in their field, yet when change is proposed the staff that have expertise in that area are not taken seriously. Change management proposals are rushed through with unrealistic timelines,” Palmer said.

Staff are looking for a new collective agreement that places value on their expertise and respects them as leaders in their field.

During the Howard years, not only were the rights and conditions of university staff and universities themselves attacked, but academic status and autonomy came under fire as well.  At CSU, out of control workload increases and poor change management procedures are a direct result of the Howard era agreement that staff continue to suffer under. It is an agreement that has built significant barriers to the important work of the staff of the University.

“It is time for CSU management to negotiate a new agreement with NTEU that supports quality teaching, quality research and engagement with our community as a major inland university,” Palmer concluded.