Back to basics at Melbourne University

On Thursday, 26 September, workers at Melbourne University took part in more vigorous industrial action than has occurred on that campus in many years. As part of a 24-hour strike, around 100 staff, students and supporters set up picket lines at the two main entrances to the campus.

The National Tertiary Education Union has been negotiating with the university for a new enterprise agreement for over a year. The university’s hard line approach can be summed up in its choice of negotiator, notorious Liberal Party-aligned human resources heavyweight Michael O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan was brought in fresh from battles with the construction unions at the Wonthaggi desalination plant.

The university wants to block a decent pay rise for staff, reduce redundancy payments and increase the number of fixed-term contract positions that will replace ongoing positions. It’s also refusing to set any targets for the creation of new teaching positions to address casualisation.

The Parkville campus houses around 8,000 staff and more than 30,000 students and has dozens of entrances. Alongside this, the union branch has been fairly inactive over the years, for numerous reasons, so this was not an attempt at a traditional nothing-in-nothing-out picket. But it was the first time in many years that our picket lines actually blockaded the entrances that were targeted, and the experience was positive for union members on the lines.

The branch has had some success at finding new, mostly young workers to become involved in the campaign, and the enthusiasm for the pickets and, hopefully, for another 24 hour strike soon, was palpable.