Geelong’s Deakin University staff will protest at next month’s open day, as academics fight for better pay and work conditions.The National Tertiary Education Union met this week to discuss industrial action over their fight against university management, with union members concerned that negotiations have slowed over the last six months.
NTEU Deakin Branch President Dr. Piper Rudd, also an academic in the School of Education at Deakin, said despite making a lot of progress in negotiations, members are still wanting to ‘de-casualise’ the industry.
Dr. Rudd said lecturers are also worried about their academic workloads and are due to protest at the university’s open day on August 20.
“We’ll be handing out leaflets, talking to prospective parents and students to just explain why it’s really important that we’re fighting for de-casualisation and improved conditions,” she said.
Dr. Rudd said the university has built a reputation as one of the best in the state.
“In order to maintain that we need sustainable workloads.
“We need recognition from management that academics are feeling under immense pressure.
“Many people I think in the Geelong community understand this.
“Deakin is a really big part of the community and we care deeply about our students.”
Seven universities across the state will be taking part in some sort of industrial action or protest over the coming weeks, including University of Melbourne, Monash, La Trove, Swinburne, RMIT and Victoria University.
Image: Jane Dunning (Supplied).
