zac - Network

The sign I made for this week's strike. Double sided and complete with details and sources in footnotes. (Painted on a recycled Greens...

The sign I made for this week's strike. Double sided and complete with details and sources in footnotes. (Painted on a recycled Greens coreflute we had out the front of our unit at the last state election.)

#UniMelb #UniMelbStrikes #NTEU #union #strike #WageTheft #universities

More media! A short interview on ABC Radio with Dr Jeff Sparrow, whom I had the pleasure of working with on an Open Access Week event last...

More media! A short interview on ABC Radio with Dr Jeff Sparrow, whom I had the pleasure of working with on an Open Access Week event last year: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/melbourne-mornings/university-of-melbourne-strike-lecturer-speaks-out/102932528

The Age, one of Melbourne's biggest news sites, has reported on this week's strike at #UniMelb, quoting some awesome folks:“The...

The Age, one of Melbourne's biggest news sites, has reported on this week's strike at #UniMelb, quoting some awesome folks:

“The University of Melbourne is a hugely rich institution with crushing workloads, wage theft and insecure work and yet in so many respects it wants to maintain the status quo,” [acting NTEU branch president Chloe Mackenzie] said.

R. Grace & N. Precel, "Hundreds of tutorials cancelled as University of Melbourne staff strike."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/hundreds-of-tutorials-cancelled-as-university-of-melbourne-staff-strike-20231003-p5e9fl.html

#NTEU #UniMelbStrikes

It was a pity that the beautiful sunny weather of day one of our week-long strike at the University of Melbourne didn't continue into...

It was a pity that the beautiful sunny weather of day one of our week-long strike at the University of Melbourne didn't continue into day two... but as we chanted this morning: "we will hold the picket line - rain, hail, or shine!"

And that we did! Surrounded by a solid turnout of amazing union members, it was an awesome day regardless of the non-stop rain. 😄✊💜

#UniMelb #UniMelbStrikes #NTEU #strike #picket #Melbourne

(Images are selfies taken each day.)

Senior leadership appears totally disconnected from staff struggles. 10 UniMelb execs were paid more than the PM in 2022 (>$564k). Our VC...

Senior leadership appears totally disconnected from staff struggles. 10 UniMelb execs were paid more than the PM in 2022 (>$564k). Our VC lives in a university-owned mansion and has a salary of $1.5m per year, making in 12 days what HEW 4 staff earn in 12 months. Inequality and entitlement run deep.

Staff want to deliver the best research & education possible, but can't if they're overworked, underpaid, and stressed over whether they'll have work next semester.

#UniMelb #NTEU #inequality (5/5)

A FAIR PAY RISE. From 2013 to 2022, our Vice-Chancellor's salary grew by 43%. Staff wages grew by only 26% over this period, keeping...

A FAIR PAY RISE. From 2013 to 2022, our Vice-Chancellor's salary grew by 43%. Staff wages grew by only 26% over this period, keeping just ahead of CPI (23%) thanks to NTEU bargaining. Recently, though, they've been going backwards in real terms. Since our 2018 EA expired in 2021, annual pay rises have been far below inflation. We're seeking pay increases that correct this and allow staff pay to stay ahead of CPI during this cost-of-living crisis.

#UniMelb #NTEU #strike #FairPay (4/5)

SAFE WORKLOADS. The union has proposed a range of improvements to workloads, which are in crisis across the sector. These include: •...

SAFE WORKLOADS. The union has proposed a range of improvements to workloads, which are in crisis across the sector. These include:
• promptly filling vacancies;
• backfilling absent staff;
• limiting restructures;
• consulting on reasonable workload allocation policies;
• a ≥40% research component for new academic roles by default, factoring in the time required for academic staff to maintain currency in their field and undertake their research.

#UniMelb #NTEU #strike #workloads (3/5)

Working conditions are learning conditions, and they're both under attack. In our fight for better universities, we're...

Working conditions are learning conditions, and they're both under attack. In our fight for better universities, we're seeking:

SECURE JOBS. More than half of my colleagues are on casual or fixed-term contracts. This has led to exploitation, with the University having to repay over $45 million in stolen wages. Our union is seeking a commitment that at least 80% of staff (and EFT) are on continuing contracts within the next two years.

#UniMelb #NTEU #SecureWork #WageTheft (2/5)

This week I am participating in another week-long strike at the University of Melbourne. This time it’s a campus-wide 6.5-day strike - the...

This week I am participating in another week-long strike at the University of Melbourne. This time it’s a campus-wide 6.5-day strike - the longest ever undertaken at an Australian university. It will also be the longest strike on the Parkville campus since stonemasons downed their tools in 1856 to win an eight-hour workday.

Unfortunately, this industrial action is necessary due to management's prolonged refusal to satisfactorily address our union’s key claims.

#UniMelb #NTEU #strike (1/5)

Our #strike at the University of Melbourne has been written up in Vice:Aleksandra Bliszczyk, "What's Going on with Australia's...

Our #strike at the University of Melbourne has been written up in Vice:

Aleksandra Bliszczyk, "What's Going on with Australia's University Strikes?" (29/8/2023)
https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjzax/whats-going-on-with-australias-university-strikes

"union members also asked for a shift in perspective... 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, while other staff members go three months of the year or more without a paycheck"

#UniMelb #NTEU #union

The Saturday Paper just published an excellent article on the serious governance problems at Australian universities. Definitely worth a...

The Saturday Paper just published an excellent article on the serious governance problems at Australian universities. Definitely worth a read.

"The destruction of university faculties," by Tim Moore: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/education/2023/08/26/the-destruction-university-faculties

"The largesse thrown about in central administrations is matched depressingly by the increasing impoverishment of faculties" [and libraries!].

#university #universities

Check out this amazing strike poster! 😻 Next week I'll be joining my union colleagues in a week-long strike, as we fight to make...

Check out this amazing strike poster! 😻 Next week I'll be joining my union colleagues in a week-long strike, as we fight to make secure jobs the norm at the University of Melbourne, and seek more manageable workloads and a fair pay rise.

#NTEU #UniMelb #Union #Strike #Library #Melbourne #Solidarity

Art by the talented Emily Kaji (@emilykajiart on Instagram).

I'm so happy with this cowl - the colours, the yarn, the design. It's the DRK Everyday Cowl by Andrea Mowry, with lovely...

I'm so happy with this cowl - the colours, the yarn, the design. It's the DRK Everyday Cowl by Andrea Mowry, with lovely non-superwash DK merino yarn hand dyed by a great local dyer, Fluff & Nonsense. I'll definitely be making more of these! #knitting
(Photo is a selfie with eye contact.)

I'm enjoying this very chill #knitting project. It's the DRK Everyday Cowl by Andrea Mowry, knit with beautiful yarn from a local...

I'm enjoying this very chill #knitting project. It's the DRK Everyday Cowl by Andrea Mowry, knit with beautiful yarn from a local indie dyer, Fluff and Nonsense. Knitting is definitely my happy place! 🧶😌

A few years ago, Alex and I worked together on a new scholarly edition of Joseph Fraser's "Melbourne and Mars: My Mysterious Life...

A few years ago, Alex and I worked together on a new scholarly edition of Joseph Fraser's "Melbourne and Mars: My Mysterious Life on Two Planets" (1889), a socialist utopian novel written by a Melbourne phrenologist. Our edition, with an introduction and notes, was published by Grattan Street Press in 2020. Such a fun collaboration!

I just got back from a fantastic book launch! It was for my friend and collaborator Dr Alexandra Roginski's new book, "Science and...

I just got back from a fantastic book launch! It was for my friend and collaborator Dr Alexandra Roginski's new book, "Science and Power in the Nineteenth-Century Tasman World" (Cambridge University Press, 2023).

It explores the practice of phrenology in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and contains many fascinating stories. It's an incredible work of scholarship many years in the making!

#Science #Australia #Aotearoa #NewZealand #Phrenology #BookLaunch

It's been a while since I last posted, so here's a #caturday contribution - my beautiful boy Rambo 🖤💛🖤

It's been a while since I last posted, so here's a #caturday contribution - my beautiful boy Rambo 🖤💛🖤

Happy #caturday folks! Here's my boy Tadhg seeking pats as I do some #knitting on this rainy afternoon 😻

Happy #caturday folks! Here's my boy Tadhg seeking pats as I do some #knitting on this rainy afternoon 😻

covid, complaining, coffeeIt finally got me. I started having symptoms and tested positive 7 days ago. And I'm so bloody over the...

covid, complaining, coffee

It finally got me. I started having symptoms and tested positive 7 days ago. And I'm so bloody over the persistent headache, congestion, and fatigue. All worsened by nights of truly terrible sleep. 😣

The most Melbournian complaint of all? I'm now out of dark roast coffee beans and oat milk. 😭 No more oat flat whites! Send in the SES! Call 000! Our governments may not care that covid is running rampant, but surely they understand the seriousness of *this* situation? 🙄

Happy birthday #DORA! That is, happy birthday to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which turns 10 years old...

Happy birthday #DORA! That is, happy birthday to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), which turns 10 years old today. (Not to be confused with Dora the Explorer, who is 22, despite her childlike appearance.)

I'm excited to be joining a webinar, "DORA at 10: Looking back and looking forward," featuring @ginnybarbour and @StephenCurry

Find out more about DORA: https://sfdora.org/dora-10th-anniversary-events/

#SFDORA #ResearchAssessment #ScholarlyCommunications