CAE Staff on Indefinite Strike

Staff at the Centre for Adult Education (CAE) in Melbourne have been on strike since 8am on Monday. In a first for the tertiary education sector in Victoria, they are out indefinitely.

Around 60 NTEU members have formed a picket line around the city campus and cancelled hundreds of classes.

Staff have not received an across the board pay rise since May 2010, but report that their main concerns are about conditions. Management has refused to budge on key issues during enterprise agreement negotiations, which have dragged out for nearly 2 years.

Personal leave, including compassionate leave, is on management’s chopping block. So is the right for the union to be represented on the key management consultative committee.

Workers are also fighting the inclusion of a clause that will limit the scope of the Fair Work Commission in the resolution of disputes. Lay-Ping, NTEU delegate, explains: “Management want to stop us from going to arbitration, they want to be judge, jury and executioner!”

“Staff and students have such loyalty to the institution; we used to be a community and now we’ve become so corporate – I feel like CAE has lost its soul”, she says.

This strike is a first for many on the picket line, but the significance of their action is not lost on anyone. Teacher and delegate, Michelle McCann, told Red Flag: “This is the first time that an institution in the tertiary sector has taken indefinite strike action… it sets a precedent for everyone else so we need to make sure we win!”

Support for the strike and picket line is welcome at 253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. The picket runs from 8am until 6pm every day.

[Post a message on the CAE facebook page or send an email stating your support for staff to peter.hall@minstaff.vic.gov.au.]