General Staff Recognition

The campaign poster is circulating across the nation's campus'

Uni's can't work without General Staff

All members and non- members employed in universities as general staff are invited to attend the campaign launch.

The launch, and refreshments afterwards, will be held at 1.00pm, 12 March. The location is Rooms B 528/529, Level 5, Block B, Haymarket Campus of University of Technology, Sydney (opposite Paddy's Markets)

GET INVOLVED
Campaign activities will be held around the country in the following weeks. Contact your delegates or union office for details.

Too often general staff within Australia's 37 public universities are overlooked, undervalued and made to feel invisible. That's why the CPSU is hosting the Higher Education Campaign across Australia.

In a sector that shapes the future of our nation and is Australia's biggest export industry, the contribution Australia's 39,000 general staff make to our community's higher education system is invaluable. It's time the
community started to publicly recognise the skills and diversity of general staff in higher education.

While it varies from institution to institution, at one place or another across Australia, the CPSU has members that undertake more than 50 specialist roles. From librarians to gardeners, lab technicians to student
liaison officers and researchers in student organizations, the list is extensive.

More importantly, however, the CPSU has a 103 year proven track record in organizing and representing general staff. This includes all general and support staff in TAFE collages and schools, as well as almost all State and
Territory government employees.

In recent times the CPSU has led the way in universities in protecting jobs and in breaking new ground on issues such as parental leave.

Late 2001 saw two groundbreaking deals at the Australian Catholic University and Wollongong University Student Representative Council that have delivered award conditions no other workers in Australia enjoy in parental leave.

So what's on the agenda in 2002? Your issues are what's on the agenda!

At the CPSU it's not about union officials in far away offices making decisions about your lives. Members need to be involved in protecting conditions, in formulating demands and in looking out for colleagues. Gains only come through union activism, so direct input by members into the unions decision-making processes is essential for everyone's success.

Members have told us that the four key priorities this year are: pay, job security, reasonable hours and equity in the workplace.

PAY
2002 sees the next round of enterprise bargaining begin in universities. Studies show workers in unionised workplaces do better than non-union workers. The more union members, the stronger and more financially comfortable members are.

JOB SECURITY
Casualisation is rife in universities. For general staff casualisation increased 49% between 1990 and 1999. We are demanding conversion of casual positions to permanency where staff want it, and an end to contracting out and forced redundancies.

REASONABLE HOURS
With 70% of general staff now working unpaid overtime, the CPSU is saying enough is enough!

The Howard government cannot continue to cut funding, increase student:staff ratios and leave staff stressed and overworked. We want you to join us in working with students and academics to stop the rot.

EQUITY
Everyone deserves a fair deal. That means no victimization, bullying or harassment in the workplace. Sadly it also means fighting for pay equity - a right that has existed on paper for 30 years - but which universities do not fulfill in practice.

The CPSU's significant victories in maternity and paternity leave prove the union's commitment to equity in the workplace

Universities just can't work without general staff !

© 2001 Community & Public Sector Union - State Public Services Federation (CPSU-SPSF) - National Office

http://www.cpsu-spsf.asn.au/campaigns/higher_ed/20020305_62.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005