Academics' victory at Newcastle Uni

By Alex Bainbridge NEWCASTLE — Academic work bans were lifted at Newcastle University on September 21 following the abolition of promotion quotas by the university council the previous day. Bans had been in place for four months following a breakdown in enterprise bargaining negotiations. The key issue was the administration's decision to impose "promotion quotas". The university council has now agreed to abolish these quotas from the end of 1995. Bob Berghout, president of the Newcastle University branch of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), says that the union is pleased with the outcome. Academics are still concerned, however, that the underlying problem of a culture of "managerialism" has not changed. "The vice chancellor sees himself as running the university with little participation by the university community", Berghout said. "This is apparent even in the agreement reached between the NTEU and the administration. The union has agreed to look jointly with management at staffing arrangements. However, management sees itself as implementing change, after discussions with the union, but according to its own prerogative." There was a high level of support by academics for the bans. The ban on the processing of official exam results was remarkably solid, with a negligible percentage processed without official exemption. The university has also admitted that its prestigious Open Day was postponed until next year because of lack of support from academics. Berghout told Green Left Weekly that at all points the union tried to maximise its support among the university community. A consistent effort was made to involve academics who were not NTEU members. This included meetings of and regular bulletins to all academic staff. Consequently, non-union members by and large supported the bans also. Some academics joined the union during the dispute. The union also consulted with the general staff unions and with the students' association. Avoiding bans that would affect students or other staff ensured a relatively high level of support. The union granted exemptions to any student who was inconvenienced by the ban on exam result processing. Academics played an important role in supporting the third national day of action against fees. Berghout says of students and academics, "We share a mutual interest in maintaining quality and accessibility of education".