Federation University staff strike for better conditions as courses cancelled without warning

Angry uni staff walked off the job in Ballarat, supported by frustrated students, amid sudden redundancies and course cancellations.

A Ballarat professor of 12 years was fired by his employer over email on a Friday afternoon.

Such was one example brought to bear by striking Federation University staff in their pursuit of increased job security, better pay for casuals, and more rights for professional employees.

National Tertiary Education Union members who walked off the job on Thursday also condemned what they considered dishonest behaviour by university management, such as causing frequent delays during bargaining.

Federation University earlier this year began cutting jobs while distilling its six academic schools down to three, and in a single August week it cancelled and reinstated its Bachelor of Arts Degree.

Federation University Professor of Management Philip Taylor.

Professor of Management Philip Taylor got an email at 4.57pm one Friday informing him that as of December 30, he would be out of work.

“I rang HR back and said, ‘What’s going on?’” Mr Taylor said.

“No one rang me, yet recently we had a staff attitude survey and we all got text messages to remind us to complete the survey, so someone has my mobile number somewhere.

“When it came to my redundancy, the university deemed that it didn’t need to do that in person, it could just flick me an email and be done with it.

“I’ve not had a single conversation with anyone from senior leadership of the university: I think that’s unconscionable for an institution that considers itself aspiring to be an employer of choice – I wonder what their definition of employer of choice actually is.”

Staff at Federation University's Mount Helen campus on strike on Thursday.

Mr Taylor said there was in fact a great opportunity before regional universities, which he thought should rise to meet current demands of Australian businesses.

“There’s a desperation amongst the business community to find people,” he said.

“I think business is crying out, industry is crying out for good business education and good business research.

“What will happen is industry needing that acumen is just going to go down the road and get it from Melbourne University, Deakin University, and others.

“Whereas the university sees the need to cost-cut, I see the need to invest and grow.”

Federation University Mathematical Science student Rebekah Arauss.

Student Rebekah Arauss, 23, moved from Tasmania to attend Federation University for its mathematical science degree.

Halfway through a philosophy class a few years ago, her lecturer came into the room crying and holding a printed email.

“She said, ‘I don’t think we’ve got a faculty any more. I don’t know if I can teach you tomorrow,’” Ms Arauss recalled.

“There was no communication with students about that.”

Last year, Ms Arauss went to speak with a program co-ordinator about her degree.

The co-ordinator told her that he himself had been made redundant that very morning.

“What about the people who heard on the radio that the Bachleor of Arts was being cut this year, called up student HQ … and student HQ couldn’t answer?” Ms Arauss said.

“Why not communicate with students and staff? It’s like they’re all fumbling around talking to each other and they’re not talking to people who actually matter and who actually run the uni, which are the staff and students.”

Mr Arauss will complete her studies in six months, although her degree no longer exists.

Claire, Tammy, and Michelle at the Federation University Mount Helen campus strike.

A Federation University spokesman said the university wanted a “fair” but “sustainable” outcome for staff.

“Universities across Australia have been hit hard by COVID-19, with falling student numbers impacting our budgets and forcing us to make difficult choices.

“Federation, with the great support of our staff, has developed and is implementing a roadmap to a strong and sustainable future.

“With an agreed schedule for Enterprise Bargaining with the union, we remain hopeful of reaching a fair result for all our staff, while recognising the need to be fiscally responsible during a challenging time for the university sector.”