Day 1: Standing Strong, Management Scrambling
NTEU has heard multiple revealing reports from Day 1 of the industrial action.
Reports of multiple students un-enrolling before census date in protest at Shoemaker’s decision to effectively lock out their teaching and professional staff, “emergency” Saturday meetings of Deans and Shoemaker scrambling about how to respond, Deans calling round to find teaching replacements for staff refusing to work, a flooded Building K car park … It must not have been a good weekend for VU management!
Good. We think it’s high time management felt the heat of burn out and weekend work, instead of chronically overworked VU staff. Workload is a key claim at the bargaining table but we doubt that Shoemaker and co. can sense the irony … “We care and we act: we stand down our staff”.
Meanwhile, walk-arounds of the campus revealed a ghost town. Indeed, NTEU officials even found a park in the car park!
NTEU members, stay strong!
The momentum is with you and your colleagues, and many students can see your courage. Now is a great time to forward your member emails to your non-union colleagues and ask them to join the rising movement.
With every new member that joins NTEU and the action, the industrial action is stronger and we are closer to getting an agreement.
Process for applying for the Industrial Defence Fund
A reminder: anyone who is a NTEU member and has been stood down is entitled to apply for the Industrial Defence Fund for income relief as a result of the stand down.
Fill out the form to apply for access to the defence fund.
Non-members can join the union now, participate in the industrial action tomorrow, and be protected with income relief, so let your colleagues know.
NTEU hybrid members meeting
NTEU VU branch has called a pre-emptive all-members’ meeting for tomorrow Wednesday 4 September at 10am with the below agenda items.
When: 10am-11am, Wednesday 4 September
Where: M001, Footscray Park or register online.
Agenda
This will be a hybrid meeting - online link.
NTEU legal: Why management have effectively goaded NTEU into a strike and what that means over the next two weeks for you
How did we get here?
As NTEU members at VU are aware, NTEU members last week notified VU management that NTEU members would put a ban on some work -- on teaching delivery for academic staff and the use of online systems Student One and RightNow. Both these bans started yesterday. The teaching ban was set to run for one week (till Friday). The two systems bans were supposed to run for two weeks (till Friday 13th September).
In response, management took an extraordinary step. They declared they would refuse to accept any work from NTEU members who were intending to undertake the ban. No work, no pay, no classes … chaos. Is that responsible leadership? They have effectively pulled the pin on the grenade.
What is the upshot of management’s extraordinary actions? … effectively a strike.
NTEU members who had teaching delivery scheduled or would use Student One or RightNow during the two week period of industrial action are now in a peculiar situation (if they have received a stand down notice under s.471 (4) of the Fair Work Act).
The employee, NTEU says, is entitled to remain effectively on strike (total refusal to work) for the period of the notified bans. That is, until this Friday in respect of the ban on teaching delivery, and until next Friday 13 September in respect of the ban on Student One and RightNow.
Since VU management has called NTEU’s bluff, NTEU is going all in.
What’s the deal with this quirk in the law?
The duration of the stand down under s.471 (4) of the Fair Work Act is based on the “industrial action period”. This period starts the day the action commences and ends the day the ban ‘ceases’. ‘Ceasing’ of the ban is either when NTEU withdraws the action or the individual employee elects to stop participating in the notified ban.
If the employee is still participating in the notified ban, then the action has not ceased, even if the employee is not actually able to undertake the ban on a certain day (i.e., if you are not scheduled to teach or use a banned system on that particular day).
Raise visibility: Instruction to VU members on social media
Has being stood down finally given you some time to do other things? Exhausted members are telling us that the unpaid and unwanted break in work is finally allowing them to do their tax returns, spend time with their friends and families, catch up on sleep, or do some spring cleaning. All activities that are often too difficult to manage with our excessive workloads!
Let us know what you’ve finally been freed up to do and we’ll share it on our socials.
Instagram
Share a post or story on Instagram, tagging @nteu_vu and using the hashtag #vustanddown. Or if your Instagram account is private, DM your photo and description to @nteu_vu
Twitter/X
Post using the hashtag #vustanddown
Facebook
Make a public post using the hashtag #vustanddown
In strength and solidarity,
NTEU VU branch