More than 150 university workers, with support from students, took a half-day strike on September 8 at the University of Queensland (UQ).
The strike, a protected industrial action, was organised after management kept stalling on the union’s key demands.
Among the UQ National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) branch’s demands are a 20% pay rise over three years, 17% superannuation for casuals, more security for fixed-term and casual staff and human oversight of the use of artificial intelligence.
Management has offered a 12% wage rise over four years, which an NTEU member told Green Left “falls completely short of the impacts of inflation”.
UQ NTEU vice president Matthew Campbell argued that the pay offer was “obscene”, given that UQ had reported a surplus of half a billion dollars. “We want our staff to be paid a reasonable wage for the work that they do.”
NTEU Queensland Division secretary Michael McNally told the strikers that management’s offer falls completely short of a recent agreement between the NTEU and the University of Canberra.
A casual university worker told strikers about how casual workers are exploited, including by being underpaid and having their hours cut. “It’s time for casuals to take their slice of the cake,” they said.
The strike ended with a plea from an NTEU delegate to the striking workers to build support for the industrial campaign within the university.