By Ben Reid and Jo Williams
MELBOURNE — Members of the National Tertiary Education and Industry Union (NTEU) at Melbourne University on April 9 voted by a narrow margin to accept an administration offer in the current round of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
The agreement puts in jeopardy attempts to build unity between staff and students against the Howard government's attacks on higher education. A pay rise of 12.5% is linked to union cooperation in achieving the university's revenue targets, outlined in its operational plan.
These targets include the introduction of full up-front fees for 20% of undergraduate places from 1998 and cuts to various departments.
In addition, the agreement drastically changes the redundancy process and allows for the introduction of Australian Workplace Agreements in certain parts of the university.
Under the operational plan, the university will collect $51 million in fees from undergraduate students in 1998. If for some reason this target is not reached (e.g. if a successful student campaign blocks their implementation) the staff will not receive the pay rise.
The agreement will hamper the ability of the NTEU to support the campaign against up-front fees, and will set academics against students.
The meeting that adopted the agreement was marred by irregularities. Branch president Robert Evans allowed two speakers for and two against, with only five minutes each, and then spoke for some 20 minutes himself in favour of the agreement. Only an hour was allocated for the whole meeting.
In the week before the meeting, NTEU branches in NSW and the ACT and members from around the country sent messages urging the Melbourne University branch to reject the deal. The Victorian state secretary, Ted Murphy, spoke against the agreement. Students picketed outside, urging members to reject the deal.
The final vote was a narrow majority in favour, 137 votes to 120. This included 16 votes counted from an earlier Hawthorn campus meeting where no opposition position was put and no alternative motion foreshadowed.
A crucial role in adopting the deal was played by Andrew Blunden, a prominent union member and a member of the socialist group Militant. Blunden was one of the main sponsors of the deal.
Before the meeting, Blunden had apologised for the deal, saying it was the best available in the circumstances. At the meeting itself, however, Blunden seconded the motion to accept the offer, arguing that it was the "best deal" in the country and that it guaranteed job security. How a socialist could support the introduction of up-front fees for undergraduates was never explained.
Given the closeness of the vote, Blunden's support was decisive in ensuring the passage of the agreement. Blunden's support meant that the left was split on the issue, and many rank and file members were swayed by his support for the deal.
At no point were members presented with the option of fighting a real, effective campaign for the pay rise and against education cuts and fees. In order for members to feel confident that they could reject the deal and fight the threatened staff-wide ballot, they needed to see an alternative strategy.
This would require a program of industrial and other action, supported by other states and the national office. The flood of condemnation for the agreement from other branches indicates that the support was there. Clearly, however, the NTEU branch committee and Blunden were unwilling to follow such a course.
Workers on the campus and within the broader education sector now face a harder task in opposing cuts to their conditions and education funding, and a harder task in building a joint staff-student campaign in defence of public education.
The linking of a pay rise with the university's revenue targets sets a very bad precedent for future negotiations, both at Melbourne University and at other universities yet to begin negotiations.
However, the narrowness of the vote means it is hardly a great victory for the university administration or for the local union leadership. On Melbourne University, a rank and file group is planning to find ways of defeating the agreement and to repair the damaged links with students.
[Ben Reid is a member of the Melbourne University NTEU branch and a member of the Democratic Socialist Party. Jo Williams is the education vice-president of the Melbourne University Student Union and a member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance.]