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Episode Nine: Why we can't keep waiting.
151 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, Kate & Tony run through the vision that the Union is putting forward in bargaining and the response (or lack thereof) from the university representatives to that. It's a timely reminder that we can't passively wait for change to happen and that we need to fight for it. And as importantly - if we do, change can be won!
With the Protected Action Ballot having closed, and all actions being approved, now is the time to begin thinking through not only what we want out of bargaining and what we want the new agreement to look like, but also how we can demonstrate that we are committed to the vision that we seek.
If you have questions about the process you'd like answered, or any topics you would like to hear covered on the podcast, drop us an email at myunionwroteaneba@gmail.com
You can also stay up to date with everything happening with bargaining at our new bargaining website, and with the branch on Facebook and Twitter. All of which can be found here - https://linktr.ee/myunionwroteaneba
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Transcript
Introduction and Context
00:00:18
Speaker
G'day, everyone, and welcome to My Union Road and EBA. This is a podcast to chronicle the progress towards a new enterprise bargaining agreement at Monash University and is brought to you by members of the Monash branch of the NTEU. We're here to take the old agreement and hashtag change it. And unlike our namesake, my dad wrote a porno, do everything we can to avoid being fucked in the process. Those involved with the podcast would like to acknowledge that it is being recorded on the unsaid lands of the Kulin nations,
00:00:47
Speaker
on whose lands we live, teach, and work. We would like to acknowledge and pay our respects to the traditional custodians and elders past and present, and to the continuation of the cultural, spiritual, and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.
Vice Chancellor's Salary and Budget Concerns
00:01:07
Speaker
Hi, everyone.
00:01:09
Speaker
I'm Adam Fernandes, your National Counselor here with another update on the Vice Chancellor's salary. It has been 270 days since our last agreement ended and 154 days since they have refused us a pay offer. In those 270 days, the Vice Chancellor has earned $887,490, all in the context of a supposed budget deficit experienced by our university. Well, that's it from me. Have a lovely day.
Condemnation of Neo-Nazism and Transphobia
00:01:38
Speaker
Before we begin this week's episode, we just want to add the voices of everyone who works on this podcast to those in the community rejecting and opposing the abhorrent displays of both neo-nazism and transphobia that were recently on display in Melbourne.
00:01:51
Speaker
Despite the attempts of some to distance the transphobia of Kelly J. Keene Minshaw, also known as Posey Parker, from the National Socialist Network Nazis, as the group Jews Against Fascism wrote, any person knows that if there's a Nazi at the table and 10 other people sitting there talking with him, you've got a table of 11 Nazis. On Saturday, not a finger was lifted.
00:02:13
Speaker
from any turf, anti-vax, cooker, organizer, or attendee to remove or distance the protest from them. Every single one of them sat at the table with the Nazi. There was absolutely no room at our table for such people. Now, onto the episode.
Call for Industrial Action
00:02:28
Speaker
Well said, Tony. This week, we want to remind members why we are balloting to take industrial action and why we think it's important to show the university that we're serious about these negotiations and about winning better rights and conditions.
00:02:42
Speaker
We, the union, are putting forward a vision for a better and fairer university and university management are consistently engaging in foot dragging and forever telling us that they'll get back to us or we'll let you know when we have a proposal. It's not good enough.
00:02:56
Speaker
We are fast approaching a year since the previous agreement expired. In that time, the Vice Chancellor has been raking in money hand over fist to the tune of nearly a million dollars now. She, via a group of highly paid consultants, the same ones who have a clear and obvious incentive to drag out the process for as long as possible, tell us each meeting, oh no, we aren't prepared to talk about wages yet. Spiralling cost of living and rising interest rates be damned.
00:03:24
Speaker
How dare you expect your wages to be open for discussion at a time when it is dominating the news and hitting the hip pocket? Sure, Peter Marshall can order that the cost of parking be jacked up in line with CPI. But don't you dare expect that just because parking has gone up that your wages might too. One rule for me and one rule for thee, says Peter. Well, it's time to call bullshit. It's time to show them that we're serious about this.
00:03:48
Speaker
And the best way to do that is through protected industrial action. The university would be more than happy to drag this out for the next two and a half years like they did last round because they continue to profit while we continue to suffer.
Union Demands vs Management Resistance
00:03:59
Speaker
So here's what the bargaining team has spent the last six months putting forward as part of our vision for what the university could and should be and what the response has been from management. So for the union, they want everyone to have 15% or CPI plus 1.5%
00:04:15
Speaker
pay rises, so whichever is greater. Management's position is that they just refuse to discuss wages at all. The union wants Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment target to equal to 3% of staff. The university would rather an aspirational target, one that doesn't commit them to numbers. The union wants to improve leave entitlements for non-birthing parents and access to isolation leave in case of illness. The university won't commit to any of that. The union wants gender affirmation leave of 30 days a year.
00:04:45
Speaker
The university would rather a one-time provision of 30 days that's non-replenishable over your employment. The union wants to reduce the span of hours for professional staff from 8am to 6pm. The university management would rather expand that span of hours to be from 7am to 8pm. The union wants to keep the right to appeal academic probation rulings. And the university wants to revoke that right to appeal.
00:05:10
Speaker
The union wants casuals to be paid for all hours spent marking. The university wants to maintain the system of peace rates dictated by the Dean's determination. The same system that has recently found Melbourne Uni being taken to federal court by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
00:05:26
Speaker
The union wants revisions of Schedule 2 and 3 to ensure wage theft by misclassification is no longer possible. The university is shocked at the thought of cost implications that would result from that, so they want to keep it the way it is. The union wants 80% ongoing positions by 2024 with conversion for existing Monash staff. The university would rather increase fixed term and periodic employment, but via edict, not through the EBA. In other words, whatever they want to do, they want to make sure it's not enforceable.
00:05:54
Speaker
There are a bunch of other issues that the union has put forward clauses on and are still waiting for response from management. These are around OH&S, workplace bullying, the right to disconnect, on-call and call back for professional staff and enhanced rights to
Financial Profits vs Employee Rights
00:06:09
Speaker
work from home.
00:06:09
Speaker
We're not asking for impossible things. These are all things that the university could easily agree to do. They just don't want to. They would rather continue to turn the screws and run us into the ground for profit. Monash has made more than a billion dollars in the last three years. And despite what the vice chancellor would have you believe in the recent email, Monash has the cash. And members at other universities around the country are winning similar things from their employers.
Success Stories from Other Universities
00:06:36
Speaker
UTS has just endorsed an agreement that gives them a 14.75% pay rise over the life of the agreement. 110 new permanent jobs are offered to current academic casual staff again over the life of the agreement. 10 days of domestic violence leave for casuals and 20 days of gender affirmation leave per year for trans and gender diverse staff. QUT staff have endorsed an agreement that they got done in six months. Six months, people.
00:07:02
Speaker
that gives them a 14.1% pay rise over the life of the agreement, improved workload provisions, and an increase in the number of secured jobs for casual and fixed-term staff. An ACU's new agreement gives them pay rises between 15% and 17% over the life of the agreement, 85 new permanent jobs, restructure protection, and a commitment to a 20% reduction in casual academic labour. The writing is on the wall. The time to act is now.
Listener Engagement and Queries
00:07:29
Speaker
And as always, if you have any questions about EA negotiations, please feel free to shoot us an email at myunionrotoneba at gmail.com. And we'll see you next time. All right, folks, that's it for this episode. Thanks to Kate, Danny, Adam, Bernard and Poddaddy Sofio for all the work they've put into this. And we'll catch you next time.