³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) members at the University of Queensland will go on strike next week to mark more than 600 days of bargaining with management to reach a new enterprise agreement.
The February 22 strike will coincide with the new semester’s first week of classes.
It will be the third all-day strike Union members at UQ have taken during the protracted fight for better pay and conditions.
“It’s been more than 600 days since our last Enterprise Agreement expired in mid-2021, and the NTEU has been trying to negotiate a new deal with UQ management since then,” said NTEU UQ Branch President, Associate Professor Andrew Bonnell.
“UQ workers are sick and tired of management dragging their feet.”
NTEU members at UQ have been undertaking protected industrial actions since September 2022.
“The decision to strike during the first week of classes wasn’t an easy one,” explained Dr Annie Pohlman, Vice-President of the UQ Branch.
“But our students understand that our working conditions are their learning conditions, and we’ve had tremendous support from the UQ Student Union.”
Staff on strike will hold a rally in the Great Court of UQ’s main campus at St Lucia at 10am on February 22.
Federal Greens politicians Elizabeth Watson-Brown, the Member for Ryan, and Senator Mehreen Faruqi will attend the rally.
“UQ is one of the largest employers in my electorate of Ryan, and I’m a proud alumnus. I have been extremely disappointed to see the repeated delays from UQ management, which has forced the NTEU to take this action,” Ms Watson-Brown, who will speak at the rally, said.
“The Greens and I stand in solidarity with the NTEU and their members. UQ needs to do better for their staff and their students.”
NSW Senator Faruqi is Greens’ Deputy Leader, the party’s education spokesperson and a proud NTEU member.
“Across the country, university staff are speaking out and bargaining for a fair deal on their campuses,” Senator Faruqi said.
“They shouldn’t have to fight tooth and nail for the basic right of fairer working conditions, decent pay and secure work. The corporate model of higher education that is failing them needs to change.”
