Pressure from workers and students forced the University of Western Sydney's Board of Trustees to review its rejection of a $250,000 SRC funding proposal on November 29. The proposal is designed to help UWS Student Association (UWSSA) survive federal "voluntary student unionism" (VSU) legislation and came on the back of UWSSA having its budget slashed from $2.5 million to $450,000 for three years.
The board agreed to review its initial decision to reject paying UWSSA receptionists. UWS staff and students are prepared to take further action if the decision of the review committee is not favourable.
According to UWSSA president Phil Riggs, the board "cannot justify this penny pinching given that its in the process of selling off massive areas of land for urban development at the Westmead, Campbelltown and Penrith campuses. A fraction of this massive revenue would save the jobs of UWSSA's employees." Riggs criticised the Labor-dominated board for "using John Howard's VSU legislation as an excuse to decimate essential student services at UWS".
"I have been here for 12 years doing a job I love, serving the students of UWS", receptionist Rhonda Cunningham told GLW. "It will be a sad day for me and for the students if we are forced to shut our doors."
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claccaulc1@gmail.com replied on Permalink
Dear Green Left
My name is Comrade Shelly Frances Kershaw (formerly Shelly AnnDahl). l am a forgotten Australian liberation theologian intersex asexual born out of adultery and poverty who wears many hats.
This is another article of mine in which I have discovered the original author's name has been deleted. My green left editor still has not learned an important journalism lesson you can't delete the original author's names of green left articles without our consent. If my green left editor of my green left articles chooses to remain anonymous that is the green left editor's choice. Yet what the anonymous editor who has a 10 year history of seeking to silence my voice doesnt have the right to do is seek to sillence my green left history to create a lie about me.
Rachel was not there that day when we had to organise stop voluntary student unionism protests outside the university management at Werrington south kingswood campus at UWS. Rachel Evans inexperience of the historical material conditions of working with protest organisers from poor and oppressed backgrounds with limited resources who are not stupid but rather is a case of having to use what we have got to organise a successful campaign.
Rachel Evans woke up too late to discover what was happening at UWS and didn't believe me. It was 2006. It was a victory that day but the future of the UWS Student Association was uncertain. An anarchist President had been elected. Dani Barley and Simon Taylor had forgotten us simply because Resistance didn't get elected President. The title of the hats I got elected to didn't matter to me. All that mattered to me was that I belonged in a group so I could use my talents and gifts in writing and organise to change the world as part of a team because I had fought for 25 years of my life just to get into university, complete a degree, find my comrades and organise to change the world. Perhaps comrades were not used of someone from a forgotten Australian intersex asexual liberation theology born out of adultery and poverty background who was aware of what needed to be done to organise a good protest.
In the UWS Student Association we were in the battle of our lives to stop voluntary student unionionism and the university management from sacking the workers, killing our student unions and cutting our courses. That day was a victory because the university management backed down from sacking our staff as a result of the efforts of student union activists and one very determined comrade of yours who never gives up fighting for green left to know the truth about one very determined comrade of yours driven by love of the living humanity and God who never gives up fighting for the lives of my people for a future to change the world. My prayer and hope is my Green left editor will stop being a bad teacher who forgets their students and educate green left why you don't delete the names of the original authors of green left articles. God bless and love in struggle comrade shelly+