The Corporate War Against Higher Education

This was written in 2002 it says alot about Higher Education now!

"Struggling for democracy is both a political and educational task. Fundamental to the rise of a vibrant
democratic culture is the recognition that education must be treated as a public good—as a crucial site
where students gain a public voice and come to grips with their own power as individual and social agents.
Public and higher education cannot be viewed merely as sites for commercial investment or for affirming
a notion of the private good based exclusively on the fulfillment of individual needs. Reducing higher
education to the handmaiden of corporate culture works against the critical social imperative of educating
citizens who can sustain and develop inclusive democratic public spheres."

Workers Compensation Report – One Year On

19 June 2013

Workers Compensation Report – One Year On outlines the findings of the Unions NSW online survey on Workers Compensation.

The report highlights the human impacts of the Government’s changes to workers compensation.

2,340 people completed the workers compensation survey, 1392 (60%) of whom had suffered an injury or illness at work.

Key findings from the survey include:

-          93% of people are opposed the Government’s changes to workers compensation;

-          Of the 1392 injured workers, 504 were receiving weekly payments in June 2012;

-          92 workers reported a reduction in their weekly payments as a result of the changes;

-          71% of people receiving weekly payments have not yet undergone a Work Capacity Assessment;

-          86% of injured workers sustained their injury prior to June 2012.

In the coming weeks, we will also be compiling the hundreds of individual stories from the survey results. These will be posted to the website www.nswforall.org.au

If you have any questions regarding the report, please contact kminter@unionsnsw.org.au or on 9881 5918

Enterprise Bargaining Update No. 2

It is National TAFE Day

Hi Everyone,

There are hundreds of activities being planned right around Australia to celebrate National TAFE Day on Monday 3 June.

Here are some suggestions for how you could celebrate with us on Monday:

• Encourage 1 more person to sign up as a supporter on www.stoptafecuts.com.au.  With more than 2,000 supporters so far - let's double that number on June 3!
• Get our StopTAFECuts poster here. Print one out, and send us a photo of yourself holding it.  Share it on our Facebook page or email it to us.
• Send us a TAFE tweet on June 3 to @TAFECampaign using the #stopTAFEcuts hashtag. Encourage your friends to retweet.
• Update your Facebook status. Tell all your friends why you're celebrating National TAFE Day and encourage them to like us on Facebook.  
• Send us a photo of your National TAFE Day activity or event!  You can email us or share your photos on our Facebook page.

Celebrate the great achievements of our world-class TAFE system on June 3!

Let's keep building the campaign to Stop TAFE Cuts, and defend our TAFE system.

StopTAFECuts team

Uni budget cuts an Asian Century 'joke'

·         BY:JULIE HARE 

·         From:The Australian 

·         May 28, 2013 12:00AM

THE heads of Australia's most elite research-intensive universities say their standing in international rankings is set to fall as budget cuts take their toll.

"We won't see a drop in rankings over the next couple of years, but we can expect to see our international standing compromised after that," said Peter Hoj, vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland, which has had $90 million cut from its budget over three years.

In the past seven months, Labor has taken $3.8 billion off the forward estimates for higher education and research. Yesterday, Australian National University vice-chancellor Ian Young asked staff and students to attend one of 17 forums over the next two weeks to "discuss the challenges we confront and to seek your ideas to help solve the issues".

The ANU says it will have $51m cut from its budget over the next two years.

"Any cuts of this magnitude have got to have an impact on the standing of Australian universities internationally," Professor Young said.

"It is an inconsistent set of policy initiatives when, at the same time, you want to raise the profile of Australian universities and move the country to more high-value-added export industries."

Julia Gillard has said that as an Asian Century priority she wants 10 universities in the world top 100 by 2025. At present there are between two and seven, depending on the league table.

University of Melbourne provost Margaret Sheil said cuts of $160m would have to be absorbed over the next four years. "The bigger and more research intensive the institution, the more the cuts hurt," Professor Sheil said.

She said there appeared to be a prevailing view that universities simply needed to be more efficient to absorb the costs.

But in its 2012 annual report, Melbourne's underlying surplus, when capital grants are discounted, was just $7m on revenues of nearly $2bn. UQ was $42m in the red with revenues of $1.8bn. ANU's estimated underlying surplus was $15m while the figure at the University of NSW is about $14m.

"We are working on a razor-thin margin," said Fred Hilmer, vice-chancellor of UNSW.

"With these cuts coming we will have to slow down hiring and slow down our investment in technology. How you reconcile that with the Asian Century ambition is just a joke."

Of potentially even greater concern was the imposition of a $2000 cap on tax-deductible expenses for self-education, Professor Hilmer said. "The real injustice is that it will hit the people who pay for their ongoing education themselves," he added.

UTS CPSU EB7 Log of Claims Information and Vote

 MeetingRoom: CB04.02.36

Survey about work related injury

View Online Do you have a work-related injury or illness or were you injured, travelling to or from work?  Or are you a family member or workmate of someone who has had such an ordeal? We want to hear from you. Complete this survey and give us insight into your personal experiences of the NSW Workers Compensation system. As a result of the NSW O’Farrell Government’s changes to Workers Compensation in June 2012 those with workplace injuries and illnesses, and their families, have been dealt a tremendous blow to their rights and entitlements. In most cases, injured and ill workers will have their entitlements reduced, or scrapped altogether. For more information on the workers compensation changes go towww.nswforall.org.au. Workers Compensation is one of the most important rights that belong to working people. It was a right that was fought for and won by the union movement and workers. It is meant to ensure that someone who is injured or ill as a result of their work is properly and decently cared for. The NSW O’Farrell Government’s changes are a direct attack on fair treatment and respect for all workers and their families. By completing this survey you will help us assess the consequences of the Workers Compensation changes one year after they were introduced. The survey should take between 3 and 10 minutes to complete, depending on your circumstances.  Thank you, Emma Maiden Deputy Assistant Secretary Unions NSW Over the next year, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service will, in New South Wales alone, need over 400,000 donations of blood, over 100,000 donations of plasma and nearly 10,000 donations of platelets. Unions NSW is the voice of working people in NSW and represents over 600,000 affiliated members and over 67 affiliated unions.  Sydney Trades Hall was established by the developing trade union movement in NSW. The building was first begun in 1888 with the final meeting hall finished in 1917. The industry super fund and union movements' hard-fought principles of fairness and collective benefit are at the very heart of our business.  Please follow us on:

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