National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at Monash University are going on a half-day strike next Wednesday 6 September, rallying outside Monash University’s Council meeting in the Melbourne CBD
Monash NTEU members will be striking in support for better pay, job security, and improved working conditions.
NTEU Monash branch president Dr Ben Eltham commented that “Negotiations have dragged on now for ten months. We don’t think Monash University management are taking staff demands seriously. Staff face a cost of living crisis, unacceptable job insecurity and deteriorating teaching and learning conditions.”
The latest industrial action takes place in the context of the ongoing wage theft scandal at Monash University. The NTEU is suing Monash in the Federal Court for widespread wage theft against casual academics; the University has responded by counter-suing staff in the Fair Work Commission in an attempt to retrospectively rewrite the Enterprise Agreement to kill off the underpayment claim.”
The Council is the governing body of Monash University and is chaired by 2011 Australian of the Year Simon McKeon, who is also the current Non-Executive Director of the National Australia Bank and Rio Tinto Group. McKeon played a role as Director in the destruction of Juukan Gorge, an Aboriginal sacred site, in Rio Tinto’s blasting in early 2020 — despite the controversy McKeon was promoted with an 80,000 pay rise.
“The action on 6 September will directly target Monash University Council, in particular Chancellor Simon McKeon , whose governance of a public institution throughout this period must now be called into question.”
NTEU branches across Victoria have been taking industrial action lately including the University of Melbourne, Swinburne University, La Trobe and RMIT.
