Swinburne faces legal action over unpaid wages

Swinburne University is facing legal action over “extreme tactics” employed against teachers taking industrial action as part of a pay rise dispute.

Swinburne University is facing legal action over unpaid wages. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Swinburne University is facing potential legal action over its move to stand down teachers calling for a pay rise and a bump in superannuation payments.

In a move branded “disgraceful” by the country’s peak education unions, the institution on Friday did not pay all TAFE staff across its Croydon, Hawthorn and Wantirna campuses who refused to carry out their teaching duties.

While Swinburne denies that the staff in question were stood down without pay, staff who refuse to record student results, attendance, or to attend meetings, do not get paid on the days they refuse to perform those tasks.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and the Australian Education Union (AEU) are considering launching a legal bid to have the measure of discipline revoked.

NTEU Victorian division assistant secretary Sarah Roberts said the ban was “outrageous and unacceptable” and called for Swinburne to reverse it.

“It’s shocking university management would resort to such extreme tactics in response to a basic request for workers to receive a fair pay rise and superannuation in line with their colleagues,” she said.

“If Swinburne doesn’t abandon its extraordinary threat notice, we will be forced to consider legal action over the failure to comply with the existing enterprise agreement.

AEU Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said taking legal action would be the only option if Swinburne did not revoke their decision to stand down their TAFE staff, which she said negatively impacted students.

“Standing down staff will stop TAFE courses being delivered at Swinburne because students will not have teachers to deliver them.

But a spokesman for Swinburne told the Herald Sun that the university was well within its right to withhold pay from staff who refused to complete their duties, saying their refusal was an “ongoing disruption” to students.

“Swinburne recognises and respects a union member’s right to engage in protected industrial action,” he said.

“We disagree with and very much regret the use of students’ results, part of their future careers, as a tactic by NTEU and we seek a fair and reasonable outcome for this process.”

It comes after the Fair Work Ombudsman on Thursday launched legal action against the University of Melbourne for allegedly forcing academics not to claim payment for past work.

In February, La Trobe University faced underpayment claims after back paying more than $3m in wages in 2021.

Swinburne is set to meet with the unions in the coming weeks to continue negotiations.