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Casual Employment for Higher Degree Students at South Australian Universities: A Mixed Opportunity?
Wyatt Lawton-Masi, University of Adelaide
National Tertiary Education Union
This report is submitted in partial fulfillment of the 2010 Arts Internship Scheme at The University of Adelaide
November 2010
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The author wishes to thank the following for their time, support and participation: Workplace Supervisor Bernadette Finnerty, Academic Supervisor Kathie Muir, Greg McCarthy, Juliet Fuller, Lynn Walsh, Anne Buchecker, Michael Evans, Fletcher O’Leary, and the research participants.
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Executive Summary:
This report, written in partial fulfilment of the University of Adelaide Arts Internship Scheme at the National Tertiary Education Union Adelaide Branch, has the overall purpose of examining casual work at universities. This was done not only because this industry has a high percentage of casuals (second highest in any industry nationally), but also because of the poor working conditions of this demographic, and also because many are getting discouraged from this line of work due to intense job competition for permanent positions. In the first section I give the report a global industrial and political context, and discuss the post-Fordist and neo-liberal policies that are driving continuing casualisation and forcing the risks of employment onto workers. I then go on to give a brief history of the NTEU and summarise what they have been able to achieve for casuals in the last few years. I also discuss their recent recruitment of casual employees, and compare this with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association Union. I then go on to give a brief summary of a recent Adelaide University Union and University of Adelaide Student Representative Council report on HDR students at the University of Adelaide. The final section of the report discusses interviews that I undertook with 11 casual academics (most of whom were PhD students who were tutoring casually), and it is here that I discuss what the main concerns of these casuals are, what they think of their employment conditions, how they see their future career, their awareness of and feelings toward the NTEU, and what they believe the University and the Union could do to improve working conditions and assist them. I finish the report by giving recommendations to the NTEU based on the information gathered through the interviews.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. INTRODUCTION...... 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ...... 2 2.1. CASUALISATION - POST-FORDISM AND NEO-LIBERALISM ...... 2 2.2. RISK TAKING AND ENTERPRISE WORKERS ...... 6 3. THE WORK OF THE NTEU ...... 8 3.1. HISTORY AND PAST SUCCESSES ...... 8 3.2. NTEU CAMPAIGNS ...... 10 4. AUU & ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY SRC POSTGRAD SURVEY ...... 13 5. INTERVIEW FINDINGS ...... 14 6. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS ...... 23 REFERENCES ...... 25 APPENDICES………...………………………………………………………...…..30
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1. INTRODUCTION
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Adelaide Branch currently have concerns about the conditions of employment of casual academics, most of whom are engaged in full or part time study towards a higher degree, most typically a PhD. Nationally, 17% of academics are casual employees, with the rate slightly lower at the University of Adelaide, at 13% (DEEWR, 2009). Nationally, casuals carry out approximately 50% of teaching, and 57% of this casual staff are academics - most of whom are employed in a teaching only capacity (Kimber, 2003; Jonas, 2009). In Australia, academics are an aging workforce, with a wave of retirement predicted to hit the industry within years (Evans, 2008; Fernandes & MacDonald, 2008; Coates et al, 2009; Gregg, 2009; Jonas, 2009). This is made worse by the fact that university postgraduates seeking permanent academic careers face intense job competition and few openings, with it being documented that many get discouraged from an academic career path (Gregg, 2009; NTEU, 2010b; Trounson, 2010).
This report was undertaken in Semester 2, 2010, as partial fulfillment of the Arts Internship program at the University of Adelaide with the NTEU. Roughly twenty- five hours a week was devoted across an approximately fifteen-week period. The main focus of the internship was this report, of which the purpose is threefold: analysing the experience of casual academic work of people studying at university, looking at what employers and the NTEU are doing about the high percentage of casual academics and their working conditions, and attempting to make recommendations to improve the situation. I will look at the history of the NTEU and their recent recruitment of casual employees, and compare this with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA) union, a leading recruiter of casual workers in Australia. Further, by undertaking and analysing interviews (for which ethics clearance was acquired from the University of Adelaide), I will discuss how casual employees see their future career, their awareness of the NTEU (including its role and capacity to support them as employees), and to what degree casual academics are prepared to (continue to) experience hardship and make sacrifices for their career. I will also investigate what current casual academics think of their employment conditions and see if there are matters that they believe the Government, University and/or the Union could or should do to improve working conditions and assist them. My first area of discussion, however, will be to what extent the challenges to securing ongoing employment for recent postgraduates reflect broader industrial and political developments.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1. CASUALISATION - POST-FORDISM AND NEO-LIBERALISM
In this first section, I will focus particularly on the neo-liberal and post-Fordist policies and attitudes which have driven the continuing casualisation of the workforce, putting the onus on the individual to become an „enterprise worker‟ and take more risks than has previously been the case. Firstly, I will look at what casualisation actually is and the figures surrounding it and then go on to provide explanations. Casualisation is essentially characterised by being far more precarious than permanent employment, distinguished in such a way that employers position workers to
1 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 effectively give up the majority of benefits associated with permanent work such as paid sick or holiday leave, with one hour‟s work simply exchanged for one hour‟s pay (Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009). In Australia unfortunately, it is often for work that is „predictable, long-term and ongoing‟ (Gottschalk & McEachern, 2010: 37). There are a significant proportion of casual employees who work standard and predictable hours for just one employer (with half of casual Australians working the same job for over a year), but workplace rights such as sick leave and redundancy protection are still overwhelmingly only for those who fit the „standard‟ full-time worker model, with fewer permanent part-time positions available than casual jobs (Howe, 2007: 147). While there is certainly an argument to be made for casual work (combined with another source of income, it can make for a rewarding work/leisure balance), many of the benefits that would properly allow this are foregone with casual work, with ample evidence that this type of work is the preference of employers rather than employees, with „flexibility‟ more often than not meaning insecurity for workers (Watson et al, 2003; Howe, 2007; Standing, 2007; Percy & Beaumont, 2008). Further, although casual workers receive a casual loading of 25 percent, an often-put forward argument is that this is not compensation enough for workers who more often than not find this type of work financially insecure and emotionally difficult, with the advantages for employers - such as ease of dismissal, cheaper labour costs, convenience, superannuation implications and not accepting long term responsibility – usually outweighing the benefits for employees (Chapman, 2000; Howe, 2007: 49; Masterman-Smith & Pocock, 2008: 61; FWA, 2010; da Silva Rosa, 2010; Gottschalk & McEachern, 2010: 39). The insecurity of this work can also cause problems for workers in gaining housing or personal loans and even rental properties. A huge body of literature exists on the increasing worldwide casualisation of the workforce in a range of industries, which began sharply in the 1980s (de Ruyter, 1997; Standing, 1999; Chapman, 2000; Watson, Buchanan, Campbell & Briggs, 2003; Watson, 2005; Conley, 2007; Standing, 2007; May, Campbell & Burgess, 2008; Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009). Further, many specific studies have analyzed casualisation within the higher education sector (Midgley, 1998; MacLeod, 1999; Kimber, 2003; Percy & Beaumont, 2008; Coates et al, 2009; Coates et al, 2009b; Gregg, 2009; Jonas, 2009; Gottschalk & McEachern, 2010). In fact, in Australia, during the 1980s and 1990s, casual employment grew threefold across all industries and occupations, with casual workers now accounting for over twenty-five percent of the workforce - leaving Australia with a far higher rate of casualisation than many other OECD countries (Collins, 1994; Buchanan & Bearfield, 1997; de Ruyter, 1997; Chapman, 2000: 78; Masterman-Smith & Pocock, 2008; Gottschalk & McEachern, 2010). Although areas such as the hospitality & service sector, along with business, manufacturing and health services, are those that most immediately come to mind as having been affected by casualisation, universities have certainly not been immune (Watson et al, 2003; Watson, 2005; Howe, 2007). In fact, other than the hospitality and service sector, it is said that universities have the highest amount of casuals in any industry (Upton-Davis, 2008). It has been argued that due to neo-liberal workplace reform and decrease in government funding for universities across the country, there has been a reduction in the employment of permanent, tenured staff and a rise in casual staff, putting the pressure on the permanent staff and worsening the working conditions of the casual
2 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 workers, with the number of casual staff increasing by 48 percent through 1995 to 2005, while overall university employment only increased by 14 percent (Brown, Goodman & Yasukawa, 2006; Percy & Beaumont, 2008: 150; da Silva Rosa, 2010; Gottschalk & McEachern, 2010). Further, teaching-only staff in Australian universities are almost exclusively casual (NTEU, 2010). Despite this, these employees experience marginal status, low rates of pay, job insecurity, decreasing competitive stance, negligible benefits and little integration into the fabric of their workplace and often experience poorer working conditions than full-time workers, which results in high levels of dissatisfaction, exacerbated by low visibility (Kimber, 2003: 42; Vosko, 2006; Percy & Beaumont, 2008; Upton-Davis, 2008; Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009). It is said that casual academic work is often dominated by the multiple anxieties of coping with heavy teaching loads and completing theses (Kimber, 2003; Junor, 2004). It has also been shown that many postgraduates performing casual work view it as a stepping-stone to a tenured position within the university, but decreased budgets for many public institutions are threatening this career path (Collins, 1994: 58; Masterman-Smith & Pocock, 2008: 81). Further, despite university jobs being the desired work for many postgraduates, this demographic are finding it increasingly difficult to stay optimistic about their future possibilities, often citing intense competition, increased duties for academic staff and limited career opportunities as the main reason for pessimism, resulting in high stress for tenured academics also (NTEU, 2009; Evans, 2008; Cooper, 2010).
It is argued, in general terms, that the changes in Australian universities are characteristic of a wider phenomenon that is often called post-Fordist (Watson et al. 2003; Johnson 2004) or post-industrial economies, where employers desire to save money and have more flexibility in the way they do business. These terms refer to economies that have moved away from manufacturing to service sector employment, niche products and high-technology industries (MacDonald, 1991; Conley, 2006; Murray, 2006: 112). Many of these industries require lower capital investment and smaller, more flexible workforces within the globalised world economy (MacDonald, 1991; Brown, 1997: 12; Johnson, 2004; Murray, 2006). Changes to management practices have developed along similar lines with the focus on reducing costs and increasing profits through leaner production routines and increasing discretion for employers in managing their workforce through increasing use of contracting out services, multi-skilling of the workforce, casualisation and „hollowing out‟ of management structures (MacDonald, 1991; Brown, 1997: 12; Johnson 2004; Murray, 2006).
These developments have been made possible by neo-liberal governments‟ deregulating finance and employment laws, privatising publicly owned assets and contracting out services. This growth of „non-standard‟ forms of employment, taken together with changes in the organisation of work and the design of jobs, is seen as part of a wider process of employment restructuring, incorporating strategies which enable the full agility of the competitive organization, with firms reducing the size of their workforces and increasing the responsibility for workers, transferring tasks to casual staff (Johnson, 2004). Further, according to Brown (1997: 72), through this use of „non-standard‟ labour, this flexibility is found in the organization of the labour process to secure „functional‟ flexibility (the movement of the workforce between different tasks), „numerical‟ flexibility (the changing the size of the workforce in response to the changes in the level of demand), and also pay flexibility (by
3 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 mechanisms such as wage concessions, two-tiered wage systems, and the benefit of non-accrual of leave liabilities) all indicative of the „flexible firm‟ (MacDonald, 1991: 180; Johnson, 2004; Conley, 2007; Howe, 2007: 153; Murray, 2006: 206).
In common with other developed countries, Australia has consistently moved toward these neo-liberal policies, leading to greater economic deregulation that exposes more workers to risk and uncertainty in the workforce (Vallas, 1999: 68; Doogan, 2001; Conley, 2006: 35; Howe, 2007; Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009). In the 1980s, this involved drastic changes to the industrial relations system, restricting the labour market and the workplace according to deregulation, privatisation, competition and market freedom - conditions amenable for an increasing casualised workforce (de Ruyer, 1997; Doogan, 2001; Kimber, 2003: 43; Davies, Gottsche & Bansel, 2006; Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009: 272). The Australian higher education sector, in line with the prevailing climate, has also attempted to be more flexible, and despite student numbers only steadily increasing in the last three years, the structure remains inherently unstable (Kimber, 2003; Murray, 2006; DEEWR, 2010).
These changes in the 1980s laid in place the conditions that set the climate for the Industrial Relations changes brought in during the 1990s and 2000s by the Howard Government in Australia, exemplified by the Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRRs), which attacked the entitlements of university employees (McAlpine, 2007). Further, throughout this time, wages and conditions became very diverse, with the labour market characterized by a widening distribution of earnings and conditions, growing job insecurity, and a removal on the cap of casual labour (McAlpine, 2007; Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009). In this climate, improvements in conditions such as job security and workers‟ rights are extremely difficult to achieve (Pocock, 2005: 47; Buchler, Haynes & Baxter, 2009: 271). As will be shown, this is certainly the case in regards to academic work, with the challenges to securing ongoing work for postgraduates reflecting broader industrial developments. Further, as stated, casualisation has lead to increased competition, which means that workers are more often than not being left to „fend for themselves‟.
2.2. RISK TAKING AND ENTERPRISE WORKERS
As discussed above, the university‟s compliance with the imperative to cut budgets and remain flexible has produced a growing class of casual teachers (Percy & Beaumont, 2008). It is, however, integral to a new approach to managing labour to push many of the costs of employment onto workers, transferring risk from the State or organisation to the individual and framing „careers‟ in terms of the individual‟s responsibility (Foucault, 1988; Watson, 2005; Davies, Gottsche & Bansel, 2006: 307; Percy & Beaumont, 2008: 147). Throughout this period of post-Fordism and neo- liberal policies in the 1980s and 1990s, individualism was heightened through promotion of competition and self-determination, requiring more fluidity in work and fluctuations in pay (Davies, Gottsche & Bansel, 2006: 307; Howe, 2007). So, despite labour costs as something to be minimized in this regime, the process also requires a greater need than ever before for committed, risk-taking, loyal workers in order for it to operate (Johnson, 2004; Davies, Gottsche & Bansel, 2006: 307; Howe, 2007).
It has been argued that one of the reasons for the enduring popularity of casual work
4 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 practices is the rhetoric of casualisation, which has been caught up in the ideology of „choice and individualism‟ (Gottschalk & McEachern, 2010: 39). With these changed employment relations, workers are increasingly being asked to become „enterprise workers‟ with the employers often asking for more (Du Gay, 1996; Brown, 1997: 78). This „enterprise self‟ is one that is self-regulating and productive whose sense of self worth is inextricably linked to the „excellent‟ performance of their work and in turn, the company employing them (Du Gay, 1996). Foucault‟s theory of governmentality - the complex series of strategies to direct the actions of people that work through institutions, analyses, bureaucracy and research, and the self-regulation that individuals take on themselves – goes some way in describing this process (Foucault, 1980).
It is in this climate, „enterprising qualities‟ such as self-reliance, personal responsibility, boldness and a willingness to take risks in pursuit of goals are all promoted as virtues in the market place to maximise the benefits of this economic system (Du Gay, 1996: 56). Du Gay also argues that the expertise of „excellence‟ provides the means through which neo-liberalism can flourish, the economic goals of firms can be reached, and the self-actualizing and self-regulating capacities of humans can be enhanced in a broad network, in which autonomy and responsibility are promoted (1996: 56). The worker is presented as an individual in search of meaning and belonging in the workplace, making them believe their contribution is vital to their company but also to the „enterprise of their own lives‟ (Du Gay, 1996: 60). These ideas resonate especially powerfully in the university sector, which is, by nature, both individualized and competitive. Furthermore, academics (and would-be academics) often think of themselves as a special class of professional, rather than as a „worker‟ and thus see investing in themselves as a key part of their professional identity.
So, to use Foucault‟s terms, within the discourse of excellence strived for in neo- liberal enterprise culture, technologies of power are developed, which are the ways in which organisations discipline their workers to conform to certain standards, adopt certain practices or lifestyles and behaviour and/or internalise certain organisational mantras (Foucault 1988; Du Gay 1996). Alongside these are technologies of the self, which refer to the government and surveillance of oneself, with self-discipline and training, with people producing the ends coveted by governments in order to attain a certain state of happiness, wisdom and prosperity (Foucault 1988, 18; Du Gay 1996; Rose, 1989). Thus the values of self-realization, personal responsibility and accountability are personally attractive and economically desirable, with individuals increasingly left on their own to secure their own futures (Du Gay, 1996: 65). Risk and uncertainty unfortunately follow from this while individuals are encouraged to develop a lifestyle that will maximise the worth of their existence to themselves (Du Gay, 1996: 69) So, corporations are increasingly aiming to produce „ideal workers‟, where becoming a better worker is seen as parallel to becoming a better person and investing in one‟s self. In terms of university work, it has been said that casualisation individualizes responsibility for quality, and casuals self-exploit out of a sense of personal and professional obligation to students (Brown, Goodman, Yasukawa, 2006). As will be shown in the interviews, this is certainly the case, with many casual workers performing large amounts of unpaid work - especially in the form of marking and
5 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 lesson preparation performed in their own time, often at the expense of their PhD. An often given reason for this is that workers value intrinsic satisfaction over tangible rewards (Florida, 2002). However, this often produces the conditions for workers to be taken advantage of and feel frustration, anxiety and individualized shame – with this set of work relations becoming endemic in many industries in which the experience of „precarious work‟ is rising (Du Gay, 1996; Florida, 2002; Gill and Pratt, 2008). These are structural features of precarious work, and can often leave workers without protection or support and often results in an increasingly elite percentage of the workforce getting more money, accompanied by increasing precarious employment and a lack of job security for others. So, despite the power of unions becoming more eroded, it is in this climate that they have never been more needed. It is from this point that I discuss the work and history of the National Tertiary Education Union, the only union that works exclusively in the tertiary education sector and the only union covering academic staff. 3. THE WORK OF THE NTEU 3.1. HISTORY AND PAST SUCCESSES
The NTEU was formed in 1993, amalgamated from five other tertiary education unions. It has over 25,000 members and has branch offices dedicated to every university, with state offices in every capital city in Australia. It gives university staff a strong voice in current debates about Australian tertiary education (NTEU, 2010). As previously stated, with casual employment increasing rapidly throughout 1995- 2005 and causing employees to miss out on a range of other entitlements, there could be a basis for thinking that given the transient and (in some cases) short-term nature of casual employment, that employees are not in need of union representation. However, the NTEU is clear that, although they are a harder demographic to recruit, casual workers are in dire need of union representation and of knowing their rights, responsibilities and where to seek help, since they are more open to being exploited (Lines, 2007). Further, the NTEU has become increasingly aware that many casual academics often work unpaid hours, have difficulties accessing proper facilities at work and do not feel integrated into the collegial life of their Schools and Departments (NTEU, 2009). It has became a key priority of the Union to improve working conditions for casual employees - both by improving conditions directly and by ensuring universities provide opportunities for casuals to attain more secure jobs (NTEU, 2009).
One of the first ways the Union began to provide support for casual staff was through the release of its „A Postgraduate‟s Guide to University Employment‟ handbook, containing a survey of postgraduate employment, which sought to understand why casual employees undertook their type of employment, and the costs and benefits that occur. (Wells et al, 1997). Responses varied between seeing their employment as a central part of the postgraduate learning experience, while others performed it for pure convenience or economic reasons (Wells et al, 1997). However, it also showed the feelings of being undervalued and resentful towards the time taken away from their studies, with the power imbalance displaying the need for unionisation from the NTEU. It was the beginning of understanding the characteristics of this demographic, especially in terms of gender and family issues. The booklet also outlined the list of rights for casual staff and provided links to various sources of help (Wells et al, 1997). In 2000, the NTEU also published „Unhealthy Places of Learning: Working in
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Australia‟s Universities‟, another survey in which the NTEU gained a broader picture of the characteristics of the type of work occurring at universities, which resulted in policy options being put forth (McConville & Allport, 2000).
Countrywide, the NTEU has had many impacts in dealing with problems casual staff face, with membership offering access to representation and protection in a range of problematic employment-related matters. Beginning in 2003, through a claim lodged in the Industrial Relations Commission regarding casual employment, the NTEU undertook negotiations and achieved an increase in the loading on the hourly casual rate of pay from 20% to 23%, payment within 22 days of lodging a claim and additional pay for required attendance at lectures, which was negotiated in all university Collective Agreements. While it was agreed that these were important improvements, the NTEU followed this by commissioning two reports to analyze casual employment in higher education (Junor, 2004; Brown, Goodman, Yasukawa, 2006). These acted as the impetus for more specialized support occurring for casual employees, with the latter survey focusing on issues such as inadequate payment for marking and giving feedback, living in an indefinite state of insecurity, plus many other issues – all mentioned in my interviews. Following on from this, the Union‟s biggest move in developing a relationship with casual employees also occurred in 2007 with the launch of the third edition of the Smart Casuals booklet, with the UniCasual site being launched soon after (McAlpine, Cullinan & Roberts). 2007 also saw the launch of its Connect Magazine, an NTEU publication specifically for casual and sessional academics.
The Smart Casual campaign included a variety of aims, including developing new claims for improvements to Collective Agreements, with approaches targeting improved facilities and resources, improved superannuation, an increased minimum wage, an increase in the number of deemed paid hours per teaching hour, and a new allowance/loading for maintaining professional currency in a discipline (NTEU, 2009). The Union worked to ensure their members who employ academic casuals engaged in fairer employment practices and aggressively enforced existing provisions and entitlements through legal and industrial avenues. They also conducted facility and resource audits in targeted universities, as well as monitoring the level of casual employment at each university nationally (NTEU, 2009). Within this campaign, the NTEU held state-based conferences in 2007 and conducted many surveys, allowing casuals to discuss options on how to improve academic career paths and their main concerns (Evans, 2008b). Through these mechanisms, the key concerns that were brought up related to underpayment and non-payment for work performed, lack of job security and a meaningful career path, lack of status and inclusion as full members within their university, and also poor facilities and resources (Evans, 2008b). The ensuing round of bargaining for collective agreements addressed these issues.
A national conference of casual NTEU members also occurred soon after the state conferences to refine ideas and further develop claims for inclusion in Collective Agreements (NTEU, 2009). At this conference, policy, professional and industrial concerns of casuals were discussed along with ways to increase the voice of casuals, develop bargaining claims, and also to help create a basis for the Union to have networks of casuals at local, state and national levels. Drawing from the delegates attending the conference, a National Academic Casuals Committee was formed with the intention of raising the visibility of casual workers, advising the union on any
7 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 issues and developing campaign strategies for the future. This was imperative as although the NTEU performs well in terms of membership (30-40% of university employees), only 4.8% of these are casual employees (Upton-Davis, 2008). The Charter of Academic Rights was also developed through this work undertaken, and pertains to all the areas that the NTEU believe affect casuals the most (NTEU, 2009). In July 2008, the NTEU launched its „Our Universities Matter – Investing in People and Society‟ campaign (Evans, 2008). The campaign‟s centerpiece, which came about through the main bargaining claims just referenced, was the „Charter for University Renewal‟ - a statement of underlying principles about the higher education sector‟s future shape and direction, calling for significant increases in Commonwealth investment (Evans, 2008). The campaign also included a national petition where the community could register their support, with local NTEU Branches organizing groups to enable casual academic staff to get involved in campaigning and bargaining activities at their respective universities (Evans, 2008). This campaign also saw the seeking of an agreed number of Early Career Development Fellowships (ECDFs) - teaching and/or research two-year fixed-term contracts available to current casual academic staff through a merit-based selection process (Evans, 2008, Gale, 2008).
Related to this, one case in Ballarat - where the NTEU achieved increased loading for all casual and sessional staff, all marking outside of the classroom to be paid separately, lecturing paid at higher rates, four full-time Early Career Development Fellowships (for casual staff to gain a step up in achieving full-time employment), and paid induction for new casual and sessional staff – stands out as a major achievement in improving the terms and conditions for casual staff in a bargaining round (Evans, 2008b; Gale, 2009). Other valuable successes the NTEU has managed include a successful claim in back pay of over $300,000 being negotiated for more than a hundred casual Clinical Facilitators in the School of Nursing at the University of South Australia, with the local branch also ensuring that sessional staff receive their employment contracts upon appointment as well as ensuring casual service accounts for eligibility for long service leave - a major concern of casual employment identified through the conferences previously mentioned. Similarly, almost $10,000 in back pay for marking at La Trobe Nursing School was won in 2009 (O‟Meley, 2009)
In addition to industrial negotiations, other strategies adopted by the NTEU included submissions to the Government over funding and development of the sector and developing community and industry awareness of the situation of casuals. The NTEU 2009 Budget submission included a Workforce Development Program, which would deliver 1,800 new full-time merit-based appointments over three years, categorised as either training or development placements for recent PhD graduates, or secure employment placements for existing casual employees who have completed, or are about to complete, their PhD (NTEU, 2009b). Further, throughout 2009, a core claim of the NTEU Bargaining strategy was for all work performed by casuals and sessional academic staff to be paid. This achievement was made with the intention to stop management from „requiring‟ casual and sessional academic staff to perform a much wider range of marking than was ever envisaged under the „reasonably contemporaneous‟ provisions under old Agreements, which had led to activities such as course coordination, or pastoral carer duties as shown in my interviews. Although this is definitely an on-going process, Knight & Horrocks proposed clearer boundaries for contemporaneous marking in the latest Connect magazine (2010). Great advancements were made in this area at the University of Ballarat, Charles Darwin
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University, Australia National University, University of Western Australia and Victoria University. Career pathways and limits to the extent of casual employment were also won, as were improvements to rights to facilities. The main components of bargaining were, and still are, to do with separate payment for marking and the 25% loading being achieved, which as at date of writing has been achieved at many universities (Cullinan, 2009). Please see Appendix 1 for a summary of current initiatives in South Australia. The NTEU also undertook a National Day of Action on 16th September 2009, which was the first national strike in the Union‟s history. In South Australia, this included the majority of University of South Australia‟s campuses, Flinders University, and the University of Adelaide (Cullinan, 2009; Moscaritolo, 2009). Further, bargaining meetings and campaign meetings surrounded the day of action for the NTEU to gain ideas, advice and action in achieving claims. The Union has also developed several specific sets of printed resources for casuals including the „Sessional Survival Guide‟ booklet for Monash University (NTEU, 2010c) and also the La Trobe University Booklet for Sessional Academics, which provided specific advice for academics at these universities (Myles, 2010; NTEU, 2010b). The NTEU SA Division has resolved to publish more of these branch-specific booklets. 3.2. NTEU CAMPAIGNS
Now that I have discussed the Union‟s history in working with casual and sessional staff and the impacts they have had in this area, I will look at the associated recruitment strategies and compare these with other unions around the country, namely Australian Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA). Although many of the activities already outlined, such as the launch of their magazine and handbooks, or their national day of action, count for recruitment strategies in themselves and have no doubt explained an increase in membership numbers, it is useful to outline what specific strategies the NTEU has been performing recently to increase membership. Together with the interviews, this report will hopefully allow for suggestions to be made to the Union to improve their campaigning and support for casuals. As stated, as of 2008, only 4.8% of the NTEU‟s total membership were casual employees (Upton-Davis, 2008). The NTEU has gone some way to rectify this recently, which I will now discuss. As a part of the „Our Universities Matter‟ campaign previously mentioned, the NTEU concentrated their campaign on encouraging debate about the future shape and direction of higher education, both within the sector and in the broader community (Evans, 2008). Public events occurred in many capital cities, with many of the local NTEU Branches organizing various local campaign events at universities. Local Branches also organized groups to enable casual academic staff to get involved in campaigning and bargaining activities at each university (Evans, 2008). With regards to bargaining, the NTEU provide their services to organize department/faculty information sessions for interested staff at the university or the local branch, with promotion becoming more forceful since 2008. In many of the Union‟s publications, having a Union contact within the university is strongly encouraged, as is attempting to recruit colleagues- as these are often where the most potent invitations to join come from. Further, the National Academic Casuals Committee was formed at the end of 2008 with the purpose of helping the NTEU build a network of casual employees across the country, with particular delegates working towards being visible and vocal
9 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 throughout the universities and organizing informal meetings for casual colleagues. Another excellent recruiting strategy presented itself with the launch of the Monash Guide (NTEU, 2010c) - a social gathering was well publicized and plenty of new members joined on the night, with sessional and academic staff networking and socializing afterwards. So whilst simply recruiting new members is in itself useful for the NTEU, building a network amongst sessional staff is seen as the priority and especially useful, particularly in bargaining (Myles, 2010). Further, the NTEU has also begun to establish relationships with student and postgraduate organizations, and, starting in 2008, begun inviting representatives from these organizations to speak at NTEU events. The Union has also sponsored Radio Adelaide and Women‟s Health Day to increase its visibility. One of the biggest ways the NTEU has consistently attempted to try and recruit casuals is by encouragement through their literature – both the Advocate and Connect magazines, with the Union aiming to publish four hardcover newsletters to each Branch per year. Further, a flyer targeting casuals was distributed at Adelaide University earlier this year, However, the limitation with publications related recruitment, as with web-based strategies, is that people have to be already interested, or curious, to view it. The limitation with publications related recruitment however, as with web-based strategies, is that people have to be already interested, or curious, to view it. With the finishing of the fifth round of bargaining this year, the NTEU has pledged to „mainstream‟ the issues facing casual academic staff. As of this year they have resolved to further develop their network of casuals on a Branch, Division and National basis, sustain the production of the twice-yearly Connect, maintain and support a national co-coordinating committee of casual activists to plan, oversee and implement campaigning and organizing activities. This will include continued development of the relationship and partnership at all levels with relevant postgraduate associations in relation to the campaign, and build support across the whole membership to win improvements (Evans, 2008c; NTEU, 2010d). It is hoped that the interviews discussed later in this report also help the NTEU in terms of understanding the main issues concerning casual workers. Before I begin the discussion more fully on casual academic work, I believe it is useful to analyze which others unions recruit casuals successfully. Due to time constraints and material received however, I will only look at the SDA, Australia‟s most successful union that covers retail, fast food, and retail distribution workers – the only industries to have more casual workers than education1. Many of the leading department stores and fast food chains include SDA representatives at inductions, which certainly makes their presence felt and the process of seeking them out far easier. Further, they try and make regular visits into stores to touch base with employees during shifts. Among the material I received, the SDA had specific flyers for Target, McDonalds and Coles to put up in break rooms and offices to advertise and make their presence felt. Often, flyers pertaining to competitions members can enter – most recently, winning goods such as iPads or movie tickets – are used to entice workers, as is a
1 The hospitality industry has a high percentage of casuals also, and much of this workforce in Australia is covered by the LHMU.
10 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 discount booklet for youth-oriented stores around the country, and stationary. However, something which was learnt through attempting to find interviewees was that universities do not often have break rooms or common space used by teaching casuals – which greatly reduces the ability the NTEU has to expose themselves to this demographic. Recently the SDA has advertised Education Scholarships of one hundred dollars for members who work casually and are also studying at an institution. Upon signing up to the Union, members also receive information sheets to inform them of their rights pertaining to long service leave, workplace bullying and harassment, breaks (incorporated into all Agreements), grievance procedures, pay rates, hot weather, and information regarding counselling and warnings. The SDA also have a quarterly magazine - SDA Members News. In the latest edition, they inform workers of their workplace visits, survey results, and update members on negotiations especially regarding public holidays, three hour shift minimums, and casual loading. This magazine is one targeted specifically at the South Australian SDA division, which allows workers to be more engaged with the Union. 4. AUU & ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY SRC POSTGRAD SURVEY
In order to provide a deeper context for the discussion of casual academic work, I will first look at the results of a recent survey undertaken by the Adelaide University Union and the Student Representative Council that looks at the views of postgraduates on some of the most important issues for them at the University (O‟Leary & McCarron, 2009). Overall, the survey is fairly critical of the University‟s handling and organising of casual academics, (especially in regards to research allowances - which I will discuss later). In regards to expected completion times by students compared with those of the University, 2010 had a big differential; with students highlighting issues that extend completion times such as working for a living when their stipends run out, I.T issues, waiting for chemicals and software, and in the case of Humanities and Social Sciences - beginning projects with a lack of direction and this taking time to find. Further, there was also a significant resource deprivation identified by the survey. It is also found in the survey that only a very small percentage of postgraduates participate in campus events and functions, and lack engagement with their broader group of peers – these events being seen as a luxury that cannot be afforded. Around half of those surveyed felt that the support provided by the university needed at least some improvement (O‟Leary & McCarron, 2009). Other than the specific workload issues around casual teaching, the most pressing finding of the O‟Leary & McCarron (2009) survey related to school based research allowances (for activities such as attending and presenting at conferences and conducting travel for research purposes), which are a vital source of support for the research activities of research students. This was the aspect that was most problematic for HDR students. The situation is often made worse by the inconsistency of policies across faculties, schools, and disciplines. One of the most startling findings of the survey was regarding the large gap between the research support available to students within different schools of the University - this lack of adequate allowances seriously hampers professional development and is also detrimental to completion times, student workloads, and overall student experiences at the University (O‟Leary & McCarron, 2009).
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In regards to employment, the survey found that the great majority of postgraduates were engaged with work at the University (55% in the last twelve months), and this was mainly on a casual basis. This was in line with the discussion presented at the beginning of the report and displays that the University is not immune to the increase in casualisation that characterizes many other industries. 34% of respondents said this employment had a positive effect on the studies, while 18% identified University employment as a hindrance to their study. Only a third of students believed there were enough employment opportunities in their faculty for HDR students. However, there was a definite difference in perception of employment opportunities based on gender, with males (40%) believing there were more opportunities for employment in their chosen faculty than females (26%), but both sexes clearly disappointed with the lack of openings. International students also were disappointed in employment opportunities in their faculties, with only 20% believing there were adequate employment opportunities for postgraduate students, which is contrasted with other universities around the world (O‟Leary & McCarron, 2009). As will be shown, many of these findings are reflected in my own research. This survey also recognizes that the area of employment with university is something that was not covered fully and requires more investigation. So, it is this that I hope to further explore and understand more clearly through my interviews. Further, the NTEU is seeking to increase their casual campaigning in 2011, and the themes identified through the interview process will allow them to gain an understanding of the important issues to postgraduate employees and the areas where the most exploitation occurs, for people who are both members and non-members. It is also possible that through the interview process itself that NTEU‟s profile will be raised amongst casual workers. 5. INTERVIEW FINDINGS
The interviews took place over a three-week period in September 2010, with eleven casuals interviewed in total (four males, seven females). These were a mixture of students who were studying their PhD or Masters who were working casually at their institution (with all but one tutoring), an Honours student who was tutoring, as well as three adults who had long since attained their PhD and were doing casual tutoring. All interviewees came from either the University of Adelaide or the University of South Australia, and were from a mixture of faculties – Humanities and Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Art, Architecture & Design, and the Faculty of Professions2. Six were members of the NTEU, while the other five were not. In terms of sampling, a mixture of non-probability convenience and snowball sampling was used, using a mixture of networks within the universities, contacts from the NTEU, and respondents to flyers that were posted around the campuses. In terms of limitations, ideally I would have liked to be able to interview more than eleven people – however, this was not allowed due to the time constraints outlined in the introduction. Further, as this is a qualitative research design, the results of course cannot be generalized to any wider university student community, and comparisons between universities really can't be made. However, my research was undertaken to tell a story of sorts regarding casual academic work for these people. Not surprisingly, the results of the interviews did not differ much from the themes presented in the literature and NTEU materials, particularly studies such as Write et al
2 Some participants were happy for their school to be identified, while others were not – as such, I have elected to disclose faculties only. All student names are pseudonyms.
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(2003), Junor (2004) and Gottschalk and McEachern (2010), already referenced. Having said that, I will now discuss the main issues that were brought up through the interviewing process. The first main issue brought up by the participants was the experience of performing unpaid work – especially regarding marking. This was where some of the most emotive language came through in the interviews, with one student stating:
(Lynne): “For this particular course, I‟m getting paid three hours a week – I probably spend 10 hours a week, with marking and student inquiries. Because they‟re needy students, and I make myself open. It‟s probably to my disadvantage, but I‟d rather have it that way. There‟s a lot of extra work you do on top of what you‟re paid for, and the formula they use for marking just isn‟t fair. I was told by the head of school to „work to rule‟ – I was just outraged. That‟s just shocking, appalling – there is no integrity to that type of teaching. They just take advantage of people‟s good will.”
(Michelle): “It's a huge amount of work for just, no money. You know, they expect you to mark 3500-4000 word papers in 20 minutes. And that‟s really stupid, I mean, you can‟t do your students justice. You work so many hours for no pay. And you need to do the best you can as a tutor, to be worthwhile – to tell the students „well, sure, this is where you‟ve gone right, but this is where you‟ve gone wrong. And this is what you need to do to fix it‟. Because otherwise, you‟re not teaching at all if you‟re not giving that kind of help. So it might take you twenty minutes to work out what they have done, and what they need to do, and what they haven‟t done, and then write it down. Let alone to read it, and mark all that as well. So it‟s impossible to really do a job you‟re proud of, as a tutor. It was a complete rip-off. It was really unethical, and really exploitative, and appalling, really. They‟re leaning on a person who needs the money but are actually trying to do something else that is important for them”
(Helen): “What is the point of them doing assessments if you don‟t give them meaningful feedback? It takes time. I‟m ruthlessly efficient, but last semester I spent 2 weeks marking – the entire mid-term break. I was acutely aware that that was all work that I was effectively doing for free. Then there are all the student consults, especially with first years – there are people who are lost. This is sophisticated work – and is becoming increasingly sophisticated. I just don‟t see where this is at all recognised. And because our work is invisible, no one except in our tutorials knows what we do. The work is there, and it occupies all your time. So you can‟t get other work, but can‟t pay your bills – it‟s completely insane. It‟s the most exploitative job I‟ve ever had – so abusive.” Unpaid work also took the form of student consultations, lesson preparation, and in some cases – course coordination.
(Robert): “I don‟t feel that I get paid enough – there is so much unpaid work. I‟ve been keeping track of all my extra hours outside of class – it‟s got to be close to double. I do a lot of student consults, prepare a lot of slide talks so students know what the processes are about, and prepare demonstrations – it‟s just a lot of preparation.
(Sarah): “I was once a course coordinator, as a casual person too, and that didn't account for all the work that a course coordinator does – there was a whole lot of stuff that I did that wasn't paid at all. I think that's just how it works. It was a bit stressful – you were doing a lot of work that another person who is permanent would be paid to do, because they just use up their day, 9-5. But you can‟t do that - you‟ve only got 25 hours to coordinate. That was stressful.” Two other interviewees stated that, while not officially course coordinators, they have done these particular duties previously and have not been paid the correct rate, with Louise stating:
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“I don‟t think I get paid to prepare absolutely everything from scratch, and that‟s what I‟m having to do - do all my lesson prep from scratch. And it‟s just not good enough. I get paid 2 hours prep for each hour I‟m paid, but I would do 4-6 hours prep for every hour I teach. So they‟re getting a good deal, really. But it‟s not efficient, because everybody casually teaching is doing the same thing! What is the point? You know, you just end up with a really frustrated workforce.” It is also interesting to note that the Honours student, while acknowledging that unpaid work was done, didn‟t feel that he was being taken advantage of:
(Steve): “Yeah, I have had to do work outside of what I‟m paid for. You do the lesson prep, and marking, but I suppose that‟s implicit in your contract. I feel they‟re paying quite well. I feel I owe it to them and the students that I give my best, and don‟t complain.” Sarah commented on this fact, saying “I had that frame of my mind when I started – that you want to show that you‟re capable, and that you‟re just happy to be employed when you start a job. But after a year it was sort of like „where to from here? I‟m just burning myself out‟ and it would be the same every year.” From here, the conversations with the majority of females went on to discuss unpaid pastoral care work:
(Sarah): “Yeah, definitely, it‟s part of the job. You‟ll have a student who is upset, or a student who really needs to speak to you for whatever personal reason they may have, and you do follow that up, as a personal duty.”
(Michelle): “You might have, at least 10 in a week come into the office. And they might be crying, or whatever – there‟s all this emotional, pastoral care that needs to be done. And you don‟t get paid for that – not one single bit. Nobody from the University ever talks to you about spending too much time on caring or whatever – no way - you just negotiate that yourself. And I think that if you‟re the type of person who is open to it to begin with, and then willing to engage – and especially if you have empathy for all these tragedies that happen in people‟s lives, then, for me anyway, I‟m certainly the one who will get involved. „ However, pastoral care seemed to be gendered – while most females interviewed seem to be willing to perform this duty, none of the four men interviewed stated they had performed this. In fact, one male stated, “with what I was being paid, I definitely didn‟t feel any obligation to take on any of that”. However, this may also be that students may not feel that males are open to such approaches Another big issue brought up by many interviewees was the lack of training they received in regards to the work they perform. Aside from one day of training undertaken at both institutions, many thought that this was definitely inadequate.
(Sarah): “There‟s really nothing to teach a person to teach - that isn‟t available. Apart from the learning and teaching unit, there‟s really nothing else for support out there. If you‟re having difficulties, you can go and speak to the course coordinator or program director, but it‟s difficult to get a time with them. So in terms of casual tutoring, you‟re left out on your own. You‟re sent to teach a class, and you really have no idea. It would be good if they improved the support for casual tutors within schools - like perhaps once a week the program director can set aside an hour and casual tutors can just go, it‟s an open forum, and just talk about what‟s going on.” She went on to say that she more often than not just relied on her own experience as a student when tutoring. However, Kate expressed the most frustration at her position, by stating:
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“I think the biggest thing of all - when I look back at that time - was the lack of training. If I have a really huge regret, it was about the fact that I had no training at all in really important aspects of the job. Like, how to interact with students - that was something I struggled with; and how to deliver content in a way that students would understand. I know that I could‟ve done my job better than I was doing it, but I didn‟t really know how to do it better. So, a bit of mentoring would not have gone astray - as opposed to just making mistakes and getting told off for them” Louise also brought this up. She and Robert, like others, were concerned about student learning being compromised:
(Louise): “I think the casualisation of the workforce is being very poorly managed – in terms of sustainability, the impact on staff, and, I think, in terms of the quality of student education – I think it‟s dangerous, really. They just do not provide enough support for casual teachers, there‟s not enough direction to ensure that everybody‟s on the same page – especially in a course as broad and diverse as this one, where everyone is going to have their area of expertise and their areas which they‟re not up to date on - that‟s just not happening at all. Last year, the learning curve was just too steep for me. Some days, I still do a lesson and think „thank God I got through that!‟, without, you know, perhaps some of them realising how many steps ahead of them I was really! Not a whole way ahead, sometimes.”
(Robert): “I don't think the students get anywhere close to enough one-on-one time with the instructor – you can‟t possibly have it, with 23 students and a four-and-a-half hour class. There‟s just no time. I‟m literally running from the time I get there from the time I leave – well after I‟m supposed to leave actually. Getting out of there is a bit of a mission. Because the students need more time, it‟s crazy. They get perturbed and upset that there isn‟t more contact – they need it. That‟s got to be frustrating for them.” In another unrecorded interview, a story was told in which the tutor perceived a casual colleague of his to not have his contract renewed, as he was too active in fighting for rights of casual workers. He lamented the fact that the replacement didn‟t have the skills to engage students and had heard complaints from students about not supplying adequate feedback. So, the position of these casual workers meant that they were new enough to the job to comment upon their expectations not being met, with many showing a separation from their job enough to see that student learning was increasingly being compromised. Helen was particularly angered at this, stating, “The system will benefit the ones who are bad tutors”. Many of the casual workers also stated that they did not feel valued in their work, nor did they feel any engagement with any type of university or faculty community:
(Kate): “I absolutely didn‟t feel valued at the institution. Certainly, I never felt like a staff member, and I never went to meetings. There was definitely a divide between the casual workers and the full-time workers. I felt like the on-going academics were the proper staff and they had paid holidays, sick leave and very good wages...and that these casuals were young kids coming in, and not treated like proper workers.”
(John): “I didn‟t feel valued at all really. I felt, with the tutors, that we were kind of together. The lecturers were okay, but I had an overall feeling of just not being appreciated. It felt like the university didn‟t really respect that type of work that you‟re doing and doesn‟t recognise the importance of doing that well for the students, as well. I think there is a community amongst the students, and I think they try and work hard to develop one amongst staff members, researchers and all of them. But I don‟t feel a part of that at all with what I‟m doing. I feel like an outsider at the moment”.
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(Sarah): “At times, I really don‟t feel valued – because you‟re just filling a place, and you‟re not really a part of a team. Even though other staff try and make you feel part of a team, you‟re only there a few hours a week and so you‟re not really considered as part of the team. You‟re not involved in mail-outs, or functions. Even though they try and make an effort, you‟re still not a team member.” However, while most people interviewed did not feel valued at this particular time, they emphasized the role that particular course conveners can and have played for them in the past in determining how a casual feels about their employment. Helen took this one step further though, stating:
“All these academics are in competition with each other. There‟s just no real atmosphere of collegial approaches to anything, anywhere. It‟s all intense, individualistic, competitive type of behaviour – and then they want students to think in terms of sharing of ideas, collegiality – and they‟re surprised when there‟s a fractured, individualistic, pragmatic approach from the students.” Contrasting to what O‟Leary and McCarron (2009) found, in terms of presenting at conferences or conducting travel, most interviewees seemed quite happy and stated that they received adequate funding for this. Also contrasting against the survey, interviewees stated that they generally had access to adequate facilities to assist them in their work. Robert was the exception, who stated that more facilities are required due to increasing student numbers this year. Of interviewees who did have adequate facilities, many clarified their position, saying that they wouldn‟t have had these had they not been students also:
(John): “I think I had enough facilities, but mainly because I was a postgrad student as well. I don‟t know if I wasn‟t still a postgrad, if I was a graduate, I‟m not sure if I would have the same access to facilities as I do now. I mean, I get free printing, which I used towards my study, but also for my tutoring as well. If I wasn‟t a student, I doubt I would have had the same access to those facilities”. This area of having facilities only whilst studying is perhaps an area that the NTEU could look into further. Louise provided a pointed example of this - she had very recently finished her PhD, but continued performing casual work at her institution, and was anxious about losing her access to facilities, stating:
“At the moment I‟m facing eviction from my office, and there are really not adequate facilities for me to go to, so I‟m really bothered about that. There‟s really not – there are just shared spaces that are at a premium, really. So, if ten people rock up, and there are only six work spaces – you‟re going to have to find somewhere else”. Helen, who also had finished studying, stated that working out facilities seemed to be “ad hoc and random”. In terms of thinking if the work had a positive or negative effect on their study, the interviewees generally felt that it had had a negative impact and that trying to find the balance between providing students with a good learning experience and devoting adequate time to their studies was an almost impossible one to achieve:
(John): “I think my work was a lot more invasive in a way, into my study, than if I had been doing a completely separate job that wasn‟t related to my study. Partly because it was during the hours that I‟d normally be studying in. And maybe because it was related, it was very easy to get sidetracked into, and carried away. It was very difficult to separate them”.
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(Robert): “My work hasn‟t allowed me more flexibility – it‟s probably the opposite, actually. Before this, I had a job that was more contract based, I could work in larger blocks. This is all week. It‟s supposed to be a one-day class, but it‟s really turned into a much bigger thing than that. You‟re always available for questions – which isn‟t a bad thing, because I feel that the students do need that extra contact. I think it‟s very hard, and I‟ve already said that I don‟t want any teaching next year. I feel like I can‟t possibly do the teaching and finish off my PhD well. It‟s an impossible balance.” Michelle stated that her work “has been really taxing on my study”, and Louise stated that it was a “nightmare” and that her PhD definitely suffered. Sarah was the exception, who stated that working while studying “is definitely improving my skills and certainly my learning on the job a lot. It has improved my communication skills, and perhaps increased my passion for my profession” Another important point to make is that the different attitudes to work. There were varying attitudes to casual employment presented by the interviewees. Of those who weren‟t satisfied with working casually, a quote from Louise summarizes this well:
“Oh, I definitely would‟ve preferred a part-time contract– absolutely without a doubt. God, scrambling from semester to semester - when you know you‟ve been doing it for years – is just so pointless. Having your IT privileges removed, having them given back to you two weeks later, because you‟re starting a new contract – I mean, it‟s ridiculous. And just, you know, like, every adjustment – the cost to the university, if I pick somebody‟s skills lab, or clinical lab, because they‟re sick or away, it might be a two or three hour lab – a whole new contract is generated, including a letter from the Head of School which is signed by her saying „welcome to the university‟ – for just 2 hours. So, you know, they just don‟t trust coordinators – they don‟t give them any leeway in their budget, and they certainly don‟t trust us.” Further, some argued that casual work „intruded in on their study‟ and that it „added to the stress load‟. Others, however, felt that casual work did allow them more flexibility. Ultimately, the majority viewed their employment as a way into full-time academia, but despite this didn‟t believe there were enough permanent positions or career opportunities available:
(John): “I don‟t think there are that many employment opportunities - I was lucky to get what I did. I think this year, there‟s a lot less (in all modes). I only got the job last year because, as far as I know, someone else couldn‟t do it and they recommended me. I didn‟t actually look for it actively, the job, because I just didn‟t think there was anything going. This year, I wasn‟t offered any work, and I didn‟t even ask. Even if I wanted to, there are no jobs going. In the future though, the possibility for students in my School to teach at the university...it‟s less of a choice to be able to do that, and more of a necessity, if we love art. If we want to stay working doing art, it‟s one of the few opportunities that exist.”
(Sarah): “I believe there are employment opportunities to progress within the uni for those who have a research background, or the potential to be published. For those who are fantastic lecturers, but don‟t have that ability, I don't think there is great employment. I still want to work at the university. Had you asked me last year, I would‟ve said just „teach‟, but having the experience of teaching, I don‟t know if it‟s something I would like to do full-time. So once I graduate, I think I want to go into research. Perhaps continue teaching, but not at a full time capacity – half researching, half teaching, maybe.” Further, Steve perceived being an academic as a „great job‟ and one that he will strive for. So, the majority of interviewees were prepared to continue to sacrifice to further
17 Wyatt Lawton-Masi 1162623 their employment at the university. However, Robert, who had only recently come to Adelaide from overseas, stated:
“You really have to struggle to get any teaching work while you‟re doing your PhD, which is crazy. And the jobs that are available basically have the same people employed in them all the time. Which is fine, but those people should have permanent contracts though – that's not really casual at all. My plan was to keep teaching after my PhD. But after teaching in Australia, I don‟t know that that‟s something I want to do anymore. I‟d want to teach back home – but not in Australia. It‟s unfortunate, because I really love teaching – but not under these conditions. I just feel disappointed with the amount of people who aren‟t willing to stand up and say anything here. And the university are just going to lose all their good staff. And as far as in the future, there just aren't many jobs really at all here for people in my position.” It was also interesting to note that one interviewee had been discouraged from the area of academia all together – she had finished her PhD and stopped working casually earlier this year. Further, Helen stated that she had been endlessly frustrated with her university, and said that, she was “thinking of getting out entirely. Other tutors are also saying this – what an incredible, tragic waste”. Generally though, casual workers were willing to endure these conditions in the hope that they would eventually work at a university permanently, despite acknowledging that employment opportunities were far from adequate. Although casuals leaving their employment to go on to other industries is cause for deep concern, those who are also willing to continue to be exploited despite minimal career opportunities and adverse working conditions is worrying also, given that these universities may be inclined to continue on with the current post-Fordist policies discussed earlier. In regards to the NTEU, no one had been informed of them specifically when signing their contract. This is due to the restrictions the NTEU face – with an inability to attain new staff lists and attend inductions making recruitment difficult. However, only two interviewees had not heard of the Union at all. Of those who were not members of the Union, reasons such as that it was too expensive, that they felt that it may jeopardize their already insecure employment, that they didn‟t know how long they would be working for and didn‟t feel it was necessary, and also that they just plainly hadn't been approached by anyone were given. Among some interviewees, I sensed that if someone had approached them from the NTEU, they would have been inclined to join – given the high-stress nature of PhDs, it seemed that seeking out the Union themselves was something that some interviewees weren‟t prepared to do for the most part. This is something on which I consider the NTEU could focus more of their attention, especially attempting to build more of a presence on campus. In regards to members, some also felt disheartened at the fact that they had to find out about the NTEU themselves, and worried whether they had enough power when it came to negotiations. On contracts, not one interviewee had received theirs on time (usually about a week or two after commencement, most of them said), and contracts varied between being too vague, or actually containing all the necessary criteria as identified by the NTEU. However, this could be put down to individual expectations and experience with contracts, with no participants stating that they were walked through the paperwork, and one person stating that “it's the most complicated pay structure I‟ve ever seen”. At any rate, more work needs to be done to ensure all workers have a clear understanding of their contracts – however the aforementioned restrictions make this difficult to properly recommend at this stage.
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6. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the issues brought up in the interviews were already ones that the NTEU were already generally aware of. Nevertheless, I will conclude this report by making recommendations on what the NTEU can focus on to improve the conditions of casual workers. Firstly, I believe the rate of pay needs to be raised – not just a pay rise in itself, but more acknowledgement from universities of the time it takes to properly mark papers, and all the other „invisible work‟ outlined in the interviews that is performed by casual staff such as student consults and responding to emails. I believe this needs to be done by setting out clearer and more realistic guidelines for casual staff regarding time to be spent performing duties outside of class, with rates of pay to reflect this. Secondly, feeling excluded and devalued in work, and lacking engagement with any type of student or staff community was a major issue, brought up repeatedly in the interviews. As such, I believe full inclusion in collegiate activities is needed – this may be from compulsory (paid) meeting attendance, increased frequency of social events, or even inviting casual staff to collaborate more with course coordinators (as can be seen, this is happening already, albeit unacknowledged) (Kimber, 2003). Further, more acknowledgement of the work/study balance is required, as many interviewees stated that their PhD often suffered from their tutoring.
Thirdly, casual staff accessing career development presented itself as a top priority, and it has been proposed that a mentoring program between full-time and casual staff could help (which would allow the NTEU more recruitment opportunities, also). Whilst the NTEU proposed limits on the extent of casual work is extremely useful, simply more focus by universities on entry-level positions, and more part-time opportunities for longer serving casual staff I believe to be desirable also. This will not be able to be done without more Union pressure, however (Kimber, 2003). Fourthly, the lack of training for casual staff was an issue brought up that garnered some of the most passionate language from interviewees. This was perhaps the most pressing finding that wasn‟t identified in the NTEU literature. Many expressed dissatisfaction at the lack of training – not only personally at their inability to perform the job they felt their students deserved, but also structurally. Many felt that student learning was being compromised in this environment, and felt that it should be the university‟s top priority to correct this. Fifthly, whilst many stated that they had adequate facilities to perform their work, an area of further analysis could be of casuals who are not studying at the university, as these interviewees described some of the worst conditions. Finally, the need for the Union to explore additional strategies to make casual workers aware of the NTEU was one that emerged from the interviews. One way to achieve this may be to develop a small introductory card that existing academic members who employ casual staff could give to their newly employed tutors or research assistants to make them aware of the union. I have summarised these main suggestions for the NTEU in the following dot points:
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1. Increase in pay and pay for all duties performed 2. Full inclusion of casual workers in collegiate activities through social events, collaboration with course coordinators and paid meeting attendance. 3. More training through the development of more regular training modules and increased access to course coordinators for casual staff. 4. Development of mentoring program between full-time and casual staff for casuals to access career development, allowing NTEU more recruitment opportunities also. 5. Further analyse the experience of casual work of people who are not studying. 6. Explore additional strategies to make casual workers aware of the NTEU.
Whilst this has not been intended as an exhaustive list, it is hoped that this report as a whole has been able to desribe the casualisation of university workforces across South Australia, the work of the NTEU in this area, and give a micro-perspective on some of the main issues facing casual academia in this current post-Fordist and neo-liberal environment through the interviews.
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APPENDIX 1: Summary of current initiatives in NTEU bargaining in South Australia, as of November 2010: University of Adelaide - have agreed to 25% loading up from 23%, 9% superannuation for all casuals and a separate rate for marking which is not contemporaneous. There is a conversion process for casual professional staff and 3 teaching fellowships (3 year fixed term) have been created. University of South Australia - details are still to be committed to writing, however the NTEU has similarly gained here the 25% loading and 9% superannuation. Four ECDFs and an unlimited number of Teaching Focused Contracts have been won, with eligibility for both restricted for casuals. Further, separate pay has also been won for all work other than class preparation and student consultation. Flinders University - an agreement is planned to take place in early 2011, but there is an In Principle Agreement agreed upon of 25% loading and 9% superannuation.
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