#3
NTEU strikes at two universities
MELBOURNE — Members of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) held 24-hour strikes at RMIT and the Victoria University of Technology on September 23. Staff at both universities are in the midst of enterprise bargaining negotiations, in which reducing casualisation and workloads and securing pay increases have been key issues.
Negotiations have continued for 12 months at RMIT. Staff are demanding the regulation of workloads, the inclusion of parental leave entitlements comparable to other Victorian universities and "transparent and equitable professional development entitlements" in their agreement.
Prior to the strike, workers at RMIT placed work bans on answering telephones and emails. However, NTEU members at RMIT's three campuses voted overwhelmingly to lift the bans and go on strike instead. The student union supported the action and the NTEU picket lines on the day of the strike.
A common complaint among staff at RMIT is the non-replacement of staff when they leave the organisation. In some areas, staffing levels are down by 25%. This affects the quality of teaching and services provided to students. Despite the non-replacement of staff, RMIT continues to recruit large numbers of students each year and workload pressure has intensified.
Vannessa Hearman
Hazara leader runs for Senate
BRISBANE — On September 18, Hassan Ghulam, president of the Hazara Ethnic Society of Australia, launched his campaign for election to the Senate as an independent on a refugee-rights platform.
Addressing a campaign dinner at the Macgregor Primary School Hall, Ghulam outlined how he had become involved in defending the rights of asylum seekers some years ago. "My issue is the sufferings of those behind the wire at Woomera and other detention centres", Ghulam said. Opposition to the US and Australian occupation of Iraq was another key issue, Ghulam added.
Other speakers at the campaign launch included Jim McIlroy, representing the Socialist Alliance; Frederika Steen, Democrat candidate for the seat of Moreton; ABC radio presenter Sandy McCutcheon; and Hazara community representative Attaullah Naseri.
Bill Mason
Evidence Douglas Scott was murdered
DARWIN — A trial to decide whether to hold a new inquest into the July 1985 death of Douglas Scott in Berrimah prison will begin on April 11, 2005 in the Northern Territory Supreme Court.
Further evidence that Scott was murdered has been uncovered by two forensic experts, Dr Jorge Vanrell of Paulista University in Brazil and Dr Tohru Oshima of Kanazawa University in Japan. Their evidence backs up statements by witnesses who were in the adjoining cell in Berrimah the night Scott died.
One of these witnesses, Laurie Percy, has stated that he heard Scott call for help after prison officers entered his cell. Percy's affidavit also states that guards had another prisoner and himself clean blood from the walls of Scott's cell the following morning.
Kathy Newnam
From Green Left Weekly, September 29, 2004.
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