A/Prof Leah Kaufmann💉💉💉 💉
@DrLeahKaufmann
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207
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Psychology academic, ACU NTEU Branch President. Parent on Wurundjeri land. (She/her). Firm view all my own. Likes and retweets are not necessarily endorsement.
Melbourne, Victoria
Joined October 2020
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So proud of my little activists who decided to come with me to show support for the Murugappan family.
@karenandrewsmp
time to bring them
#hometobilo
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Surely investigating the accusation of rape by one of the most powerful men in the country is the best solution to demonstrate innocence? Its hard not to see this as an admission... not just that it occurred but that people know it occurred.
#allegedrapistchristianporter
BREAKING: Govt is BLOCKING me introducing a bill for a Inquiry into whether Mr Porter is fit to remain in Cabinet given the unresolved rape allegations. Blocking a bill is very very rare. This is a protection racket for the boys club from a Govt allergic to transparency!
#auspol
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What confuses people is that, unlike jobs where people have paid shifts, unis pay for the the work to be done but they also want to say how long it will take. Imagine telling a surgeon or a plumber “here’s the job, you’re the expert, but I’m going to pay you 3 hours to do it”.
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Back at
@ACUmedia
St Patrick’s campus contributing to the safe and welcoming learning environment for all staff and students.
#equalityIsUnionBusiness
@NTEUnion
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ACU staff will have the opportunity to vote on a UNION ENDORSED Enterprise Agreement based months of bargaining for better working conditions. Gains incl: 14.55% pay rise, flexibility, improved workload for academics, more PD opps for prof staff, and reduced insecure work!
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VC Skrbis
@acumedia
gave <reasons> the most inaccurate:offensive was that “ACU had carried staff through the pandemic and now it could do so no longer”.
SERIOUSLY?!?
#StaffAREtheUniversity
! The idea that there was any other entity “carrying” demonstrates ignorance of staff work.
Today I publicly asked
@ACUmedia
’s Vice-Chancellor how, after YEARS OF SURPLUSES, he could rush to cut ~250 staff jobs in 2023 as a solution to the spectacular deficits delivered by his 2-ish years of leadership?
#budgetCutsBEFOREjobCuts
@NTEUnion
#standUpFightBack
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Very pleased to share that I have been promoted to Associate Professor from Jan 2024! Also massive congratulations to everyone else who was promoted.
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Here comes the mighty
@NTEU_RMIT
to the
@NTEUnion
Vic Div rally. Powerful force to encounter!!
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The other shoe has finally dropped.
@ACUmedia
has announced a further proposed 44.2 full time equivalent (professional) job cuts bringing the potential total to more than 180 FTE in 2023! This will NOT solve the spending that created $38.6m deficit?
#budgetCutsBeforeJobCuts
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Today I publicly asked
@ACUmedia
’s Vice-Chancellor how, after YEARS OF SURPLUSES, he could rush to cut ~250 staff jobs in 2023 as a solution to the spectacular deficits delivered by his 2-ish years of leadership?
#budgetCutsBEFOREjobCuts
@NTEUnion
#standUpFightBack
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After nearly 11 months of Enterprise Bargaining members have decided they must seek the opportunity to demonstrate their support for better conditions and fair pay via protected action for the first time in over a decade! ACU members for
#betterUniversities
via
#protectedAction
!!
Today
@NTEUnion
applied to the Fair Work Commission for a protected action ballot on behalf of
@ACUmedia
. ACU senior management made an offer for a new agreement on August 8, which fell short of what ACU staff deserve following two and half years of the pandemic.
@DrLeahKaufmann
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Yes. Today
@ACUmedia
has decided to make members of our community wear the cost of management’s FAILURE to rein in spending which has resulted in blowing out the proposed deficit. Prudence does not allow staff cuts BEFORE budget cuts!
@NTEUnion
fights for staff and unis!!
A 🧵: Today I am on Change Plan lookout. Will this be the day that
@ACUmedia
announces how many academics it wants to cut following hard on the heels of a Plan that saw more Feb job losses and while we discuss proposed professional job cuts. 1/2
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VCs cosplaying CEO is straightforwardly bad, but I don’t agree more business people in Higher Ed is the best solution. It’s time to prioritise education and research over profits and efficiencies. The only way is new governance structures comprising majority staff and students!
@DrLeahKaufmann
This. If the neoliberal business university is where we are headed at least get competent businesspeople to run them. Not failed academics cosplaying as CEOs
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Solidarity with
#wsustrike
. Attempts to convert universities into client-driven surplus-generators has critically harmed the working experience of educators and researchers AND has undermined education and the student experience. Staff strike for better universities for ALL.
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#AcademicTwitter
#UniversityStaff
: Working at uni, have you been asked to DO THE IMPOSSIBLE (or totally unreasonable)?
E.g., meet deadlines announced while you're on approved leave? Meetings on days you don't work?
Please RETWEET and reply (or PM) examples
(
#Join
@NTEUnion
)
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@nordacious
Three
#unionThugs
for the price of 1! All
@NTEUnion
Branch Presidents doing core union work.
@julie_kimber
@NTEUSwinburne
@RexAlysia
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@ACUmedia
“was rocketing up the rankings. Now it’s cutting humanities research and jobs” and not just in institutes! The planned cuts include OUTSTANDING faculty teaching and researchers who were caught in the unjustified spill and fill plan.
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A milestone: my NTEU branch now has SO many members, I have to email them in batches or Outlook thinks I'm spamming! It's a weird win, but I'll totally take it.
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Solidarity with
#UniMelbStrike
who are taking industrial action in service of more job security and the working conditions that are needed to create the best learning opportunity in the country! this uni can afford it and cheeping out on staff is cheating students.
Hundreds of
@NTEUVictoria
members at today’s
#UniMelbStrike
, taking industrial action for secure jobs, fair pay, safe and healthy workloads and a new enterprise agreement that respects staff. ✊✊✊💜💜💜
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@Qldaah
Did he REALLY just says the Teacher’s Union is too powerful and is influencing what is taught, AND we’d be better letting parents decide instead? A bit like letting coal and oil companies determine environmental policy although parents actually want the best for their kids.
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What do you do when there’s too much solidarity for Solidarity Hall
@NTEUnion
rally? Pack out any place (with the coffee van)!
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Today NTEU members
@ACUmedia
voted unanimously to seek a Protected Action Ballot Order so that we can take industrial action and demonstrate how important healthy workloads, flexibility, security, and conditions are to staff.
#branchPride
@NTEUnion
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Is this a new leadership style? It’s pervasive in Australian universities. It is short-sighted empathy-deficient incompetence.
A lot of people who decided to run the university like a business are discovering that they can no longer lead it like a community
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@ACUmedia
@NTEUnion
branch has won the right to take industrial action! More than 75% of members voted and we now have 12 actions to activate to demonstrate how serious we are to improved working conditions and pay.
#nteuStrong
#branchPride
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Solidarity with the
@NTEUnion
members doing the work of requiring universities to address excessive workloads, and deliver better conditions and real pay rises at
#UONstrike
,
#UTSstrike
, and
#UQstrike
!
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The
@NTEUnion
ENDORSED
@ACUmedia
Enterprise Agreement was just passed with 96% staff endorsement! Together unions and managements create the best agreements! Congratulations to all involved (especially the NTEU team and mgt team led
@sweller68
).
#joinYourUnion
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The ACU NTEU branch also unanimously passed a motion in solidarity with the University of Sydney staff who also seek fair and appropriate recognition and working conditions.
@NTEUNSW
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#RainbowUpACU
St Patrick’s campus this morning creating a welcoming environment for all staff and students!
#equalityIsUnionBusiness
@NoahRiseman
@AlisonBarnes25
@NTEUnion
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I haven't responded to
@hannahforsyth
's post because I am absolutely gutted. It is just loss; for me,
@ACUmedia
, and the sector.
She is a constant force for sanity and reason. She leads with grace and sensitivity. Her support is empowering and her example is always outstanding.
Ending academic employment on 27 Oct having started at ACU in 2014, where I taught fabulous, diverse students with the wondrous
@MelissaBellanta
and more recently
@JonPiccini
in a collegial environment nourished by Shurlee Swain and sustained by the best colleagues eva.
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Today I took the opportunity to ask why the university is pushing to return to pre-COVID work practices without consultation when contemporary approaches to work offers to sustain performance improvements and staff wellbeing, and shows staff they are trusted and respected.
#NTEU
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All we want is for ACU to make decent, well-premised decisions. We DO NOT believe that is what is occurring. Uncontrolled spending (NOT ON STAFF) and NO clear picture of the work to be undertaken in 2024 risks institutional reputation, capacity, and harms wellbeing.
Another important update from our Philosophers. It’s important to counter the narrative ACU was “overspending” on academic staff of any kind. Which university do any of you know that has *ever* done that?
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As we at
@ACUmedia
@NTEUnion
work to protect our community from management who are trying to solve the financial woes of blowing their budget with job cuts, we send SOLIDARITY to others fighting to entrench their rights in decent and fair agreements.
@NTEU_RMIT
@NTEUSwinburne
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I will not ignore the hatred we saw yesterday in Melbourne, nor the unjustified privilege of those who feel free to wear it proudly. I stand with those who simply want to be themselves, open and safe from ignorance, prejudice, and discrimination.
#IamAlly
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
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Thank you
@RoxyPebdani
for quantifying some of the serious impact of COVID on academic parents - especially mothers! Mothers’ had more than 5x less research time than non-parents and felt 2x the impact reported by fathers. How this will play out is unknown.
@SciGenderEquity
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@leighsales
@JoshFrydenberg
Please ask him how undermining the Higher Education sector contributes to our current financial well-being AND the future of Australian innovation.
#SaveHigherEd
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In reality, uni management frequently takes (and accept) credit for success and can ALWAYS be relied upon to avoid accountability and responsibility for failures of leadership, budget haemorrhaging, and lack of managing.
And another irony: uni execs, managers, dvcs, never - really, never - take responsibility for failures in the Unis. So, they can hardly be allowed any credit for anything positive that might happen? Ie. Redundant.
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Just a reminder that, while it is now the weekend and - in theory - time to switch off, enjoy loved ones, play & rest; MORE THAN 50
@ACUmedia
staff are left with uncertainty about their jobs and complete confidence the terrible leadership choices risks even more than this.
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On Friday we won the right to ballot ACU
@NTEUnion
members in service of industrial action! Members want a real pay rise, and better conditions.
#betterUniversities
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Paying lawyers so they don't have to pay staff.
@NTEUnion
defending staff rights to fair pay and building
#BetterUnis
. Great work
@kelsytomo
and team.
Good luck, team!
@NTEUnion
at the Fair Work Commission today, opposing Monash's application to retrospectively change the enterprise agreement in order to evade the union's back payment claim in the Federal Court.
#BetterUnis
#HigherEd
Read more:
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@marquelawyers
Hard not to read this as “other people’s visibility and rights, which have ZERO direct impact on me, threaten me so much I can’t take it anymore” or did I miss something?
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@DrShaneRRR
I’ve got one: COVID iso ends after 7 days but for many (even without long COVID) you can still have symptoms and be a danger to others.
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The reason genuine consultation with
@NTEUnion
members is the only way to avoid the devastating impacts of decisions made by university senior managers.
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Happening now! Waiting for the
@Swinburne
VC Pascale Quester to reconsider treatment of staff who seek fair pay and healthy Woking conditions.
#swinburnedispute
#betteruniversities
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1 day since
@ACUmedia
proposed more than 34 FTE job cuts in targeted disciplines and staff a distressed, great colleagues (targeted and not) are seriously considering leaving as a better option than staying, and students are asking what it means for courses. GOOD WORK management.
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No university can afford to allow researchers to be lost or punished because they take on the role of being a parent. It's 2023 and time for the disproportionate burden on the careers of mother's to be over. (ref:
@RoxyPebdani
)
@NTEUnion
for fair unis!
Article about my experiences at
@Deakin_ADI
@Deakin
Thanks to
@NTEUVictoria
@NTEUnion
@AlisonBarnes25
for ongoing support. Preg discrim should not be part of higher ed sector. Bosses and employers need to do better. Pls retweet.
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Nice to see
@acumedia
agree that JOB CUTS are to address the >30m deficit but “an ACU spokesperson says it is not yet know how much job cuts would save the budget”. Yet anyone can see 150 jobs can’t solve overspending on entertainment and travel etc.
#notLeadership
NTEU ACU branch said: “The 150-odd jobs they’ve told us they’re cutting this year will just limit what we can do as a university and add expensive redundancies on top. Where will that leave workloads – and students?”
@DrLeahKaufmann
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@bunyip666
@marquelawyers
@JaneCaro
Seriously?! It’s says a great deal that you have chosen to comment on a woman’s appearance when she’s busy demonstrating leadership.
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🧵1/ As an academic representing staff via the NTEU team at the Enterprise Bargaining table (for 10 months), I speak from extensive and recent experience when I say: The of work that goes into renegotiating an Enterprise Agreement is monumental, and begins long before you think.
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Join your union. Fight for fair and safe workplaces.
@NTEUnion
@NTEUNSW
@NTEUVictoria
@NTEUACT
@NTEUQld
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Thanks for having us
@ACUmedia
McAuley campus. It was brilliant (if a little warm) and we had a great time meeting with staff to discuss our excellent union negotiated Enterprise Agreement and the newly won rights of staff.
#JoinYourUnion
@NTEUnion
with
@grumpenprol
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We oppose staff cuts before budget cuts! Read:
and SUPPORT OUR STAFF HERE:
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A 🧵: Today I am on Change Plan lookout. Will this be the day that
@ACUmedia
announces how many academics it wants to cut following hard on the heels of a Plan that saw more Feb job losses and while we discuss proposed professional job cuts. 1/2
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@NaomiWolfeAU
@NTEUnion
is here for members, we are already prepping questions.
Most importantly we will support our community in defending itself from wearing the mismanagement of leadership which has led to the “financial crisis” from wild spending!
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I am supporting the
#usydstrike
on the virtual picket line listening to
@AlisonBarnes25
and casual and ongoing staff at University of Sydney talking about HUGE profits while rejecting conversions, engaging in wage theft, and shedding staff! Solidarity! ✊
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This👇is what membership in a union is about, and it is what the NTEU will need to create the universities we want to work and study in. Join your union AND get active!
#UnionStrong
@NTEUnion
Unions aren't about sitting back, kicking up your feet & making demand after demand for other people to fix your problems.
Unions are about organising together as a collective to win a better deal for all. Leave your entitlement at the door & get organising.
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Luck ran out… Pos PCR and if I didn’t feel so appalling I could go teach my class tomorrow with a mask I provide myself. What a BS policy! FYI, I won’t be doing that. Instead, the privilege of SECURE EMPLOYMENT means I will use my PAID sick leave WHICH WE ALL NEED IN A PANDEMIC.
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I have also written to the
@ACUmedia
VC this morning to ask that our insecurely employed staff be paid for the public holiday. They should not be left until to manage an unexpected loss of income, especially given many will have already prepared much of that work.
@NTEUnion
I've just emailed the
@Sydney_Uni
VC asking him to guarantee that the university will fully pay all casual staff losing work on the September 22 public holiday.
Casuals are exploited already. They mustn't lose more through Australia's ridiculous servility to the British crown.
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Solidarity with the striking workers at University of Canberra. Over the past few years, our sector has been characterised by job losses, long hours, wage theft, and insecurity. University staff deserve a pay rise, and decent and secure work!
@NTEUnion
#UCstrike
University of Canberra staff will go on strike tomorrow (October 26) demanding better pay and job security.
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@NTEUVictoria
@beneltham
It’s extremely hard to imagine how 11 years of work for a single employer could be legitimately considered casual or even fixed term. To deny people security while they demonstrate commitment and diligence is unconscionably mercenary.
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ACU signs on to
@NTEUNSW
initiative to supporting vaccination of staff (all campuses and states) including casuals is the kind of leadership we need. GREAT WORK!!!
@ACUmedia
Another BIG UNION WIN -
@ACUmedia
have signed on and are giving paid COVID vaccination leave to all staff including casuals - plus ANYONE who has worked at ACU this year. Sign the petition! ✍️
#highered
#savehighered
#covid19nsw
@unionsnsw
@unionsaustralia
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Hey
@Swinburne
, can’t wait to hear you’ve reached union negotiated Enterprise Agreement that improves the
#workingConditions
that underpin student experiences, learning, and research and engagement.
#BranchPresidentBusiness
with
@julie_kimber
@NTEUSwinburne
@NTEUnion
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Today
@ACUmedia
@NTEUnion
Branch notified that members will be taking industrial action (from Wednesday 12/10) in support of improved working conditions and a real pay rise in Enterprise Bargaining. To take part YOU MUST BE A MEMBER.
#JoinYourUnion
!
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Here is the contextualised question I put to Vice Chancellor Skrbis in a packed
@ACUmedia
lecture theatre which included many overworked staff whose jobs are proposed to be cut.
In short, why must staff shoulder the consequences when management is responsible?
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I support colleagues at
#UsydStrike
who are striking for better conditions in service of better universities!
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#NewProfilePic
. Today I voted with to make industrial action
@ACUmedia
an option. After 10 months of bargaining,
@NTEUnion
members are not ready to set aside conditions. They deserve an agreement which includes improved conditions and a real pay rise!
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A thread 1/
@ACUmedia
will cut ~250 jobs in 2024 (according to the VC in his talk today) as part of 4 change plans (3 focused on professional staff which have been "cut to the bone"; VC, Oct 11, 2023) and 1 targeting academics in History, Politics, Philosophy, and Theology.
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@JessAStern
May you remember that people - especially students learn by revealing their weaknesses and getting assistance (most times they don’t need to be told when they’re not good at something or made a mistake).
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TODAY is the day
@ACUmedia
@NTEUnion
members! At meetings in May and Aug we voted unanimously to make industrial action an option in support of our unaddressed claims. By VOTING YES to all questions on the ballot (email in your inbox) you make this happen!
#ACUvoteYES
Mng to all
@NTEUnion
members
@ACUmedia
. The ballot for protected industrial action is on! Emails from TrueVote start arriving TODAY. It’s crucial to have ur say & vote YES to all items… to give us all options to win the best deal for casuals, pay & conditions
@DrLeahKaufmann
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Professional staff already report overwork and unachievable workloads. Now
@ACUmedia
snr mgt propose we reduce our community by ~114 FTE roles. We will fight for
#safeWorkingConditions
and
#staffB4surpluses
. Staff working conditions are
#studentLearningConditions
.
#joinYourUnion
Universities must stop putting surpluses over staff. These incredibly disappointing cuts must not result in other staff facing higher workloads. The
@NTEU
and
@DrLeahKaufmann
will be with all ACU members every step of the way.
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I spent today thinking about the staff who jobs are being cut. They are valued members of our community who have contributed and performed for
@ACUmedia
- most for MANY years. Why are these the jobs to go? They did not blow a budget, go on a hiring spree, or spend $$$$$ travel.
The other shoe has finally dropped.
@ACUmedia
has announced a further proposed 44.2 full time equivalent (professional) job cuts bringing the potential total to more than 180 FTE in 2023! This will NOT solve the spending that created $38.6m deficit?
#budgetCutsBeforeJobCuts
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Short thread 1/
@ACUmedia
endless and rolling JOB CUTS seemingly remain the only solution management has. But to what problem?
If the problem is budget (and there is a HUGE spending problem) then the solution must be STOP SPENDING and don’t cut jobs which costs millions!
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Staff were told that they would be returned to campus and when the NTEU met with
@ACUmedia
(multiple times) the specific info on WHS was not provided. 2 years into a pandemic, staff deserve to know their workplace is listening and protecting them.
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🧵1/6
@ACUmedia
's Enterprise Agreement was ratified in February this year including a substantially improved academic workload clause which management have not implemented for more than 9 months with the exception of <40% of academics receiving up to 10% scholarship allocation.
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Why? Good question!! Despite budget surpluses to and through the pandemic, proposed deficits and spending well beyond budget seems to have led to views that staff cuts are a prudent immediate solution despite no clarity about workloads.
#joinYourUnion
@NTEUnion
2/2
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It may have been written for BoJo, but I can see ScoMo in every characterisation. Author Brian Bilston captures it all.
#ScottyFromDamageControl
#auspol
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This is a terrible outcome for
@ACUmedia
, but not because the criticism is harsh. The reputation of the university is being damaged by the decisions and strategies chosen by ACU leaders, the way it is treating its staff, and the impact it will have. Keeping it quiet won’t help.
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@mcassidywelch
@ANZAMEMS
@AHAhistorians
@AustHistAssoc
@MedievalAcademy
@RoyalHistSoc
@HumanitiesAU
Please consider supporting our staff and opposing staff cuts before budget cuts 👇
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@ACUmedia
@NTEUnion
grateful to the very best Industrial Org support
@grumpenprol
who supports
#ACUbargaining4better
.
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Join your union. Best advice you’ll get today.
This is pretty damning. It’s frustrating to keep saying it with little response but. Let’s make these universities actually good, shall we? How? Only way I know is together
#joinyourunion
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@Craig_Foster
@JonPiccini
Seeking asylum is lawful and treating people in need with dignity and kindness is moral, humane, and also less expensive than this punitive and unjustifiable approach. We must do better. This is a National shame.
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@JimACEverett
Academics before going back working through the holidays to deal with unmanageable workloads and unrealistic expectations.
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Staff are the university, as the
#USydStrike
demonstrated today (and will again tomorrow). Without staff working together there is no higher education. Together staff work to create better universities for everyone.
“The Vice Chancellor of
@Sydney_Uni
is on over a million dollars salary a year, shifting risk onto staff, and perpetuating a rampant crisis of overwork in our University” -
@DamienCahill8
speaking to the
#USydStrike
#BetterUnis
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