The Age | 27 May 2013
Staff at all Victorian universities are preparing to follow academics at Swinburne by threatening to withhold results for thousands of students as industrial action escalates. The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has reported all Victorian universities have voted in favour of bans on processing results.
Swinburne staff have notified management of plans to enforce the bans, which would apply to university and TAFE students. The union has estimated the ban at Swinburne could affect 50,000 students.
The other universities must give their management at least three days’ notice before they can implement the ban.
The union has entered an initial claim of a 7 per cent a year pay rise over four years for university staff. It is also seeking a 20 per cent reduction in the level of casual staff by employing more academics permanently.
Victorian secretary, Colin Long, said universities have the money to increase salaries despite recent cuts in federal funding.
They just have to make a choice about whether they spend it on big buildings or they spend it on staff.
