What's Going on with Australia's University Strikes?

Unprecedented strikes have kicked off at the University of Melbourne as staff say they and students are suffering under poor conditions.

University staff walked off the job at midday on Monday and hundreds of people gathered on campus in solidarity with those demanding job security and better conditions.

Tensions have been escalating since the pandemic over teacher’s pay and increasing casualisation at one of Australia’s richest institutions.

The National Tertiary Education Union has been in negotiations for more than a year. Those negotiations have stalled and at midday on Monday All Union members who work in the Faculty of Arts, Melbourne Law School, the Victorian College of the Arts School of Art, the Faculty of Fine Arts and music stagecraft, student services, and the library said tools down and will now strike for the next week.

This is the second time university staff in Victoria have striked this year, but a week of strikes is unprecedented since we got an eight-hour working day. 

Union members are seeking permanent contracts for at least 80 per cent of staff that will give them security into the future and come with entitlements like sick leave, as well as a wage increase in line with the consumer price index, plus 1.5 per cent. 

On the ground, union members also asked for a shift in perspective from the university, calling out the fact that Vice-Chancellor Duncan Maskell is australia’s highest paid university vice-chancellor on an annual salary of $1.5 million dollars, while other staff members go three months of the year or more without a paycheck.

James Gallagher, a spokesperson for the UniMelb Students Support Staff Strikes campaign, said many students would be joining the action throughout the week.

“Poor working conditions for staff have a direct impact on students’ education,” he said.

“Satisfaction levels are low, class sizes are up and there is less opportunity for face-to-face learning and feedback between staff and students.”

The union branch president for the University of Melbourne David Gonzalez said thousands of students would be impacted.

“Staff don’t take any strike action lightly, especially not for an entire working week,” he said.

“We have been left with no choice.”

This also comes after the tertiary education sector has been blighted by wage theft scandals and the University of Melbourne has already paid back $45 million of stolen wages to staff thanks to union advocacy.

We’ll find out later this week what this direct action will bring.

Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia. Follow her on Instagram.