SUPRA supports University of Sydney staff in their fight for fair wages and working conditions. SUPRA will once again demonstrate our support for Usyd staff by stopping work during the strike on Wednesday 17 August and joining the picket.
Staff working conditions are student learning conditions. If you are frustrated with the lack of feedback from your lecturers and tutors, with the lack of course options and availability, then you should support the staff strike.
Postgrad staff are exploited by the University. Many SUPRA members are staff at the University, in roles that are often insecure short-term contracts or casual employment. In particular, Higher Degree by Research students (PhD and Masters by Research) make up a disproportionate percentage of Usyd’s casual academic workforce. Staff in insecure employment are coerced into working unpaid hours to ensure ongoing employment. This is a culture of exploitation and wage theft.
Union members have been negotiating with the University’s management for more than 12 months for the new Enterprise Agreement, the contract that governs staff conditions and pay. This strike is happening because management have been refusing some of the most important proposals, including:
- no forced redundancies
- controls on workload
- protecting academic research
- fair pay rise.
Read the latest National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) report on Enterprise Agreement negotiations.
Staff working conditions are student learning conditions. So they are asking you to support them.
See you on the picket!
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