National Tertiary Eduction Union to escalate industrial action as fight with University of South Queensland drags on

The body representing tutors, academics and professional staff has accused the University of engaging in ‘union-busting’ practices as their fight for better pay and conditions drags on.

The National Tertiary Education Union is expected to escalate its industrial action in retaliation for what it says has been a campaign of intimidation and bullying on the part of the University of Southern Queensland.

The union is engaged in drawn-out negotiations with the university for a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement which has faltered, leading union members to vote for a series of actions about three weeks ago.

The first of those was to be a partial work ban outside the business hours of 9am-5pm that was due to start on Tuesday.

However on September 27 the university circulated a document over its internal database saying that it would not accept work from any staff member on any day that they participate in the partial work ban.

University of Southern Queensland. Supplied

In line with the Fair Work Act, the university told its employees they would not pay them for those days either.

The NTEU claims the university quietly removed this document after the union complained that it was in breach of a good-faith agreement.

NTEU local organiser Professor Andrea Lamont-Mills said a “significant” number of members did not turn up to work on Tuesday, but the university recorded just 14 absences, with one class cancelled.

The union had planned to continue the work ban indefinitely but has since called an end to it, fearing unfair disruption to students.

While the university has since clarified its position, that staff will only lose pay for the hours of the partial work ban, Professor Lamont Mills claimed the university is not engaging in genuine negotiations.

“This is a concerted union-busting effort, it is a huge threat and it is all about intimidation,” she said.

Professor Andrea Lamont-Mills.

A UniSQ spokesman refuted Professor Lamont-Mills claims of intimidation.

“The university reiterates its commitment to achieving agreement with the NTEU on an improved enterprise agreement as soon as possible,” the spokesman said.

“The university highly values its staff and has proposed a salary increase of 16.5 per cent over five years, which acknowledges the cost of living, and includes an immediate 5 per cent increase once the agreement is endorsed by staff.”

The union has been pushing for greater protection around outsourcing, redundancy, termination and a genuine reduction in the use of casual staff by converting casual positions into continuing positions.

Casual employment in Australia’s public universities has been growing at twice the rate of permanent employment and now accounts for 40 per cent of jobs in the sector.

Importantly, the union wants workload commitment clearly outlined in the EBA.

“These are not unreasonable asks for a pay offer of 3.3 per cent per year that is the second lowest of Queensland universities and is among the lowest of union negotiated offers across Australia,” Professor Lamont-Mills said.

The EBA fight comes at a tough time for the university.

According to its 2022 Annual report, total student enrolments dropped from 26,318 in 2018 to 22,728 in 2022, with the biggest decline occurring during the Covid pandemic.

Meanwhile, federal funding for public universities, excluding Help Loans that are repaid by students, have dropped from m 0.9 per cent of GDP in 1995 to 0.6 per cent of GDP in 2021, or about $6.5 bn.