Staff Industrial Action
Murdoch University Staff Vote for Industrial Action
Over the last 2 years you would have read in articles Metior, seen posters around campus and heard about the low staff working conditions at Murdoch. Staff representatives have been in negotiations with the University management for over 6 months about working conditions and pay, however on over 50% of issues including salary increases, job security and workloads, no agreement has been reached. Yesterday staff decided to take decisive action by voting for Industrial action.
Murdoch University has always prided itself on receiving the top (five-star) rating for graduate satisfaction 13 times in 14 years. This achievement is a tribute to the many staff who work hard to make Murdoch such a fantastic place to study. It is these staff who students have the most contact with and remember when they graduate.
Your Guild will be supporting our lecturers, tutors and support officers in their fight to improve their working conditions. We will have petitions around campus and will keep you up to date via Metior, Metiorite and in Lectures.
If you have any concerns or questions please email me on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Share your thoughts with us here.
The Vote
A meeting of Staff at Murdoch University yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion to ballot for Industrial Action. This vote is just the latest step in a long campaign to improve working life for staff at Murdoch. And improvements are needed urgently if Murdoch is going to continue delivering world-class Education and Research.
Actions taken may include:
Work Bans - including a ban on responding to emails and phone calls,
Work Stoppages - including a full day strike, and
A Ban on recording Exam and Assessment results.
So why are staff doing this?
On behalf of staff, the National Tertiary Education Union is currently bargaining with Murdoch Management for new Collective Agreements. These are the agreements which lay out the rules for working conditions and wages at the university.
The parties have been bargaining since last October and very little progress has been made. The union has proposed a number of provisions to improve working conditions at Murdoch. These include increasing job security for casual and contract staff, and restoring those rights and conditions lost under the previous Howard Government.
Management are unwilling to commit to these improvements and staff have grown increasingly frustrated with Management's attitude to the bargaining process.
Murdoch staff are currently the lowest paid university staff in Western Australia, the NTEU is seeking a salary increase that will bring their pay into line with their colleagues at other Western Australian universities. Murdoch Management has linked all discussion of pay to further significant erosion of working conditions at Murdoch.
And why should students care about staff conditions?
It's simple.
When staff are over-worked and under-appreciated? It has a direct impact on students.
When class sizes go up and up? It has a direct impact on students.
When lecturers, librarians, tutors and IT support staff are all under pressure? IT HAS A DIRECT IMPACT ON STUDENTS.
What happens now?
Under Australian law a secret ballot organised by the Australian electoral commission must be run where employees vote on whether they wish to strike.
More Information: http://universitybargaining.com.auNews: http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25892299-2761,00.html
Some Student Feedback
I was so pleased to receive Basha's email concerning guild support for staff in their struggle over working conditions at Murdoch. As stated in the email, any progress in this line can only be of benefit to students generally. It makes a pleasant change from the more "adversarial" conditions that have prevailed between staff and guild in the past. It is also good to hear all the talk about national agendas and cooperation on what is really a more all embracing problem than a single guild can take on, the general underfunding of tertiary education in Australia. Keep up the good work, guys :-).
Just wondering why a student guild would support act thats directed against the student body. The industrial action should be directly focused against the management.Whilst i understand the indirect stress this will put on the management, i fail to see how a student guild has within its charter the right to use our funds to support staff action like this.
Fantastic news about the NTEU vote for industrial action. Between the recent censoring of Metior magazine and the refusal to offer staff something decent in their negotiations, it is clear that the Murdoch management group treat both students AND staff at this university with utter contempt. Wake up Yovich and cronies - we want a QUALITY educational experience here at Murdoch. That means, for a start, you need to allow freedom of speech on campus, and stop overworking and underpaying your staff members! I fully support our staff, and hope they win the respect and recognition they deserve from management.
I think that our lecturers and tutors do a magnificient, job in trying to help students do well in their studies. I will try to help whenever possible though I have a reasonably busy schedule this semester.
I just wanted to express my full support for this industrial action. The long term benefits of having a faculty who are not overworked and who are satisfied in their positions significantly outweighs any temporary inconveniences to my study caused by work stoppages. I just hope that Murdoch Management wakes up before they start losing staff and students alike!