UTS presents university commercialisation alternative

You neglected to mention that another current running through sessions was the employment practices of universities – in particular the massive job insecurity of university workers relative to the rest of the economy. Public institutions receiving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars surely must be obligated to create more permanent employment which can provide employment pathways for staff.

There is obviously a need at times for short-term casual and fixed-term employment arrangements but having so many staff in insecure jobs means many university staff face unnecessary material challenges in the interest of cost-saving and ‘flexibility’. Having half of teaching staff employed on casual contracts also affects the learning experience of students in terms of continuity and availability of staff for consultation etc.

Like most/all Australian universities, UTS has huge levels of insecurely employed staff – 5000 of 8000 UTS employees are on casual contracts. If the institution is serious about a public benefit and its social justice credentials, it will address and improve the working lives of the thousands of its staff on insecure contracts.