Respect at work is a reasonable workload!

Workloads: The elephant in the room

Work / life balance is an issue confronting many university staff. The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) is working hard to ensure that university staff have a decent life outside of work.

The NTEU NSW Division in conjunction with Unions NSW has produced a video highlighting work-life balance issues. The video goes for 2 mins and you can watch it below.

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Leave your message below in the comments section (where it says “Speak Your Mind”), or email your story to nteunsw@nsw.nteu.org.au. Please note that if you leave a comment below, it will automatically be made public.

A well-attended meeting of NTEU members on 13 August 2009, passed the following resolution:

“This meeting of NTEU-UTS members

1. notes that most other Universities in NSW will be taking industrial action in September 2009; and
2. resolves to consider authorising a ballot for industrial action concerning the new Agreement at the next members’ meeting.”

The SMH front page article Monday 3 August 2009 “Uni strike would hit exam results” reported that

On Friday the regulator, Fair Work Australia, approved a ballot of staff at the University of NSW, Wollongong University and the University of New England by August 27 to determine industrial action. Ballot applications have been lodged for the University of Western Sydney, Charles Sturt University and Southern Cross. University of Sydney and Macquarie University union members will meet this week.

Collective agreements at most universities in NSW have expired and some negotiations for new agreements have dragged on for a year. In some cases universities and the union have come close on wage claims of about 4 per cent. However, [NTEU NSW State Secretary] Ms Kelly said the campaign was not about money but about educational quality, including more academic involvement in decision-making and better student-to-staff ratios.

Ms Kelly said: ‘‘The thrust of the campaign is respect. [Staff] feel they have been treated with contempt by university management and want to take action not just for their own sake, but particularly for their students and quality education.’’

Weekend and night work was now routine and Ms Kelly said the biggest concern for lecturers was the impact their increased workload had on students.

At UTS, management refused to meet with the Union until the Collective Agreement expired on 30 June but negotiations have now begun and the first bargaining meeting was held on 23 July.

Respect at Work sums up the issues prioritised by the NTEU bargaining team: academic and general staff workloads are central to our campaign, as well as discretionary practices regarding PEP approvals, a career path for non-continuing academics, and poor performance planning and review processes. Respect at work for staff means:

• Respectable workloads.
• Respectable work/life balance.
• A respectable pay rise.
• Respectable job security for all staff.

The NTEU-UTS Branch Executive supports NTEU colleagues at the other NSW universities in preparing for industrial action. Whilst we remain hopeful that UTS management will negotiate quickly and fairly, we will consider all options available to ensure we serve the best interests of staff and the quality of education at UTS.