The Federation University Branch of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has voted to launch strike action in the first week of May if bargaining with University is inconducive.
This possible action represents the continuation of the bargaining process over a new Enterprise Agreement for FedUni staff across three campuses. Thus far, bargaining has failed to produce an appropriate agreement, despite a 24-hour strike at Mount Helen campus in the Second Semester of 2022.
The final decision to strike will be made at the April 26th meeting of the Branch.
According to the recently released FedUni NTEU Branch Bargaining Strategy, the Union does “not want to call further strike action prematurely”. Instead, the Branch will follow a step-by-step plan that “allow[s] for an agile response to management’s action – or continued inaction – at the bargaining table.”
The strategy involves in-person meetings at each of the three FedUni campuses during the first week of May. If negotiations fail, “these all-member meetings will become rallies, integrated into full days of strike action at each major campus.”
Prior to this, during March and April FedUni NTEU Branch members will convene online to establish the details of the bargaining process.
The key concern of the FedUni Branch of the NTEU is the enactment of a new Enterprise Agreement that addresses a range of “core member claims,” including an end to “endemic casualisation,” reworked “academic workloads and research allocations,” and the protection of “academic freedom and pay.”
The FedUni Branch of the NTEU aims to “sign an Agreement that will make FedUni a better, safer place to work, while improving the quality of the education and support we provide our students.”
Throughout the process, FedUni Branch of the NTEU has stressed that “it is important that we act to strengthen our branch by making our union visible […] and engaging in member-led organising and recruitment activities”.
Any potential action will “coincide with the NTEU’s National Week of Action”, as will strikes likely to occur at USyd in Week 10.
