Susan Price, Sydney
On June 1, more than 1500 university and TAFE staff from campuses across Sydney were joined by students and unionists from other sectors for a rally and march. This was part of a national day of protest against the federal Coalition government's IR agenda for tertiary education, which includes a proposal to tie funding to the imposition of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs — individual contracts).
Speakers included Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Greg Combet, National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) secretary Grahame McCulloch, Greens Senator Kerry Nettle, NSW Teachers Federation president Maree O'Halloran, NSW Labor minister for education Carmel Tebutt and Sarah Jane Collins from the NSW branch of the National Union of Students.
Staff and students also rallied at the University of Western Sydney campuses in Bankstown, Parramatta, Campbelltown and Penrith. Staff at Macquarie University held a lunchtime rally and barbeque.
Staff at Wollongong University stopped work at noon to join TAFE staff for a protest rally. Actions were also held at regional university campuses across NSW, including the University of New England, Charles Sturt University campuses at Wagga Wagga and Bathurst and at the Southern Cross University in Lismore. In Canberra, 500 people rallied outside the Department of Education, Science and Training.
Karen Fletcher reports that 1500 people from universities and TAFEs across Melbourne crammed into a public meeting after marching from city campuses.
Australian Education Union Victorian president Mary Bluett told the crowd how a major ideological battle was fought against former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett's attacks on unions and in particular on teachers and schools. Despite Kennett outlawing various forms of industrial activity such as strikes, Bluett said her union went on strike anyway, and the government was unable to impose fines because public opinion was on the teachers' side.
The meeting adopted motions to support the strongest possible public political action and, where necessary, industrial action to resist the attacks, and to join the mass rally called by the Victorian Trades Hall Council for June 30.
A motion raised by some unionists for a 24-hour strike on June 30 was referred to the NTEU state executive.
In Brisbane, 300 university staff and TAFE teachers rallied, reports Paul Benedek.
Doug Cameron, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary, told the rally that university and TAFE staff are initial targets in a campaign to "take us to a US-style system, where there are sackings at will, with no recourse".
Cameron said the government, in implementing such a harsh anti-union agenda, "should expect industrial action".
John Battams, chair of the Queensland Council of Unions, urged the crowd to attend the June 30 rally at King George Square. Leah Sanderson, president of the University of Queensland student union, noted the parallel attacks on student unions and trade unions in trying to silence critics of the government agenda.
Before marching to state parliament, retired lecturer Dan O'Neill was cheered when he jumped on the platform and decried that no strike or stop-work had been called to allow more people to attend the rally. "Instead of having 300 we would have 3000", O'Neill said. "That is what it will take to get anywhere — strike action."
From Green Left Weekly, June 8, 2005.
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