USYD Strike (2 Viewers)

LoveHateSchool

Retired Sept '14
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
5,136
Location
The Fires of Mordor
Gender
Female
HSC
2012
Uni Grad
2016
"Defend your education"...

ooooh the irony.


I made the right choice to stick with unsw.
I think the university one chooses is highly individual. Any university (CSU, La Trobe, UWS, USYD etc.) could be the right choice for a student dependent on a number of factors.


Really? Why what's wrong with the teaching?
I would personally hazard that there is a range of teaching quality at every institution.
 

golgo13

Alchemist
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
304
Gender
Male
HSC
2011
Tbh i think what they ended up doing was quite disrespectful to some extent, they start at picket line with clear rules that they would try to persuade you to turn and leave which i thought was fine. But i heard they started to invade lectures and try to stop people from entering the campus by lying on the ground, which is quite out of line. I believe they probably gained more hate than support. Not taking any sides by any means but the way they are trying to get support is clearly in the wrong direction. If the lecturer is going to conduct a lesson and there are students that want to go to it after passing the picket line then let them learn in peace.
 

someth1ng

Retired Nov '14
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
5,558
Location
Adelaide, Australia
Gender
Male
HSC
2012
Uni Grad
2021
Uh, no.

What do we want? Job security for our lecturers and them and not being threatened based purely on how many papers they've published since '09, even though they weren't told back then that publishing papers is how their value would be determined. Oh yeah, we also want this job security so they can go ahead and prepare/teach classes without the risk of being fired for not publishing because, you know, teaching takes an awful lot of time.
I'm actually opposed against what they want if that's the case. The teaching is bad, either way - even if they get job security, who's to say that there will be more quality education. If lecturers don't care about you in the first place, it's not gonna get better. Also, I don't see a problem to casualisation of jobs because many pharmacists are casuals and generally, the only permanent positions for them are in government jobs.
 

someth1ng

Retired Nov '14
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
5,558
Location
Adelaide, Australia
Gender
Male
HSC
2012
Uni Grad
2021
Really? Why what's wrong with the teaching?
Very bad lecturers in Engineering from what I've been told. There was an article written by someone from a high-end university (IIRC, University of Toronto) that said that at higher end institutions, there is more prestige but poorer teaching because research becomes a priority.
 

Selador

Premium Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2008
Messages
207
Gender
Female
HSC
N/A
They get 50 days sick leave. (compared to 10 for everybody else)

They get 17% employer super contribution (compared to 9% for everybody else)

They are also the highest paid academics in the country. 105k for a lecturer.

 

soloooooo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
3,311
Gender
Female
HSC
N/A
They get 50 days sick leave. (compared to 10 for everybody else)

They get 17% employer super contribution (compared to 9% for everybody else)

They are also the highest paid academics in the country. 105k for a lecturer.

No way do they get 50 sick days.
 

Rafy

Retired
Joined
Sep 30, 2004
Messages
10,719
Gender
Female
HSC
2005
Uni Grad
2008
No way do they get 50 sick days.
The University of Sydney Enterprise Agreement 2009-2012

Personal Leave
Sick leave entitlement
146 Staff (other than casual staff) will be entitled to paid sick leave as specified below when they are unable to attend work due to personal illness or incapacity, and do not receive workers' compensation payments in respect of the absence:
Continuous Service Leave entitlement
(a) Less than 1 year: 2 weeks credited each year*
(b) 1 year or more: 10 weeks credited each year
 

someth1ng

Retired Nov '14
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
5,558
Location
Adelaide, Australia
Gender
Male
HSC
2012
Uni Grad
2021
That's funny, typically people only have praise for the UNSW Eng faculty.
I hear a lot about their facilities being good and all (prestige factor) but the lecturers are shit - I know a friend that doesn't go to any of his lectures because they make them extremely boring, he can't understand them or it's just not worth it.
 

janchanisek

Durian
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Messages
60
Location
Hills District
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
I'm a fifth year student at USYD and I love my uni and our lecturers. I also have a casual job with the uni and am a councillor on the SRC.
Although I agree with some of the demands made by staff, and affirm their right to strike, 3 days of disruptions in 4 weeks of semester is going too far. I know that most of the bad publicity is not to do with the staff or even the unions themselves, but the result of some "protestors" taking advantage of the situation. I am ashamed that our SRC, through the Education Action Group it set up, condones such actions. Here is something I wrote which I believe encapsulates the thoughts of many students at USYD:

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Most people on campus are FED UP with the disruptive and intimidating tactics employed by protestors in the strikes

The staff have a right to strike to voice their legitimate concerns and demands. Many students actually support some of the demands being made by uni staff. But the actions of the protestors have gone too far

Soon, everyone will have forgotten the reasons for the strike in the first place, but will have etched into their memory the images of unruly protestors taking over lecture theatres, disbanding classes, stopping people from going to uni,
and paralysing traffic on City Road
These actions are not supporting the strike

You don’t fight for rights by violating other people’s rights!

Stop the harassment! Stop the intimidation! Enough is enough!

The silent majority of the University of Sydney
 

janchanisek

Durian
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Messages
60
Location
Hills District
Gender
Male
HSC
2008
Declaration in Response to the Strike Action


1. We support the staff in their right to carry out industrial action in pursuit of their demands regarding working conditions.

2. We acknowledge the role of the unions in achieving better working conditions for university staff.

3. We acknowledge the legitimate concerns and demands of the staff. We recognise in particular their demand for a pay rise that is at least in line with inflation, and their opposition to changing workload restrictions and increased casualisation of university staff.

4. We recognise the important distinction between the staff and the unions on the one hand and other protestors, in particular members of the Education Action Group and Socialist Alternative, on the other hand. We recognise the fact that the staff and unions may not be responsible for the actions of these other protestors and that this should not detract from the legitimate strike activities of and demands made by the former.

5. We disapprove of the actions of the protestors in blocking off entrances to the university campus and attempting to stop people from entering. We believe that each student has the right to enter campus to attend classes that have not been cancelled.

6. We condemn the intimidating tactics of the protestors which have caused people to be fearful of entering their own campus, and which have led to decisions to cancel classes solely due to fear for the lecturers’ and students’ safety.

7. We condemn the actions of the protestors in generating large amounts of noise outside teaching spaces with the intent to stop classes from continuing. One’s right to protest should not violate another’s right to teach or to learn.

8. We condemn the actions of the protestors in entering lecture theatres, disrupting ongoing lectures, and attempting to make people abandon their classes and leave the lecture theatres.

9. We urge the staff and the unions not to condone the abovementioned actions of these protestors and to respect the rights of those staff who continue to work and students who continue to attend classes during strike days both now and in the future.

10. We urge the University Management to negotiate in good faith with the staff and the unions and to recognise that the condemnable actions of the protestors might only be attributable to a disruptive minority. We believe that in order to ensure the quality of tertiary education into the future, the concerns of the staff need to be addressed.


By the Silent Majority of the University of Sydney Student Body
 

Arcorn

Ban ned
Joined
Nov 18, 2009
Messages
1,143
Gender
Male
HSC
2010
The payrise they're being offered is almost twice that of current inflation figures.
 
Joined
Mar 20, 2011
Messages
2,180
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
i'm glad we don't have any insane protesting at unsw. If they blocked the eddy avenue bus line, they can effectively shut down the uni imo
 

soloooooo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
3,311
Gender
Female
HSC
N/A
Or just block the buses from stopping at UNSW, e.g. by standing in the bus stops there. Would probably get you arrested though.
 

abbeyroad

Active Member
Joined
Mar 9, 2008
Messages
891
Gender
Male
HSC
N/A
i'm glad we don't have any insane protesting at unsw. If they blocked the eddy avenue bus line, they can effectively shut down the uni imo
hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahhaaaahhh

imagine if someone actually did that
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 2)

Top