Staff in the University of NSW Mail Room are the latest victims of management cost-cutting and corporatisation at the University of New South Wales.

Mail services, including internal mail and courier services, overseas mail and domestic courier services were on Wednesday put out for tender via an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald (1 November, 2006, p28).

The move follows a round of calls for voluntary redundancy across the University, which will see hundreds of support staff jobs lost across the institution. The job cuts program is currently the subject of a dispute between the National Tertiary Education Union and the University
of NSW, which will be heard today in the Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

This latest move to outsource has angered the NTEU. UNSW NTEU Branch President, Susan Price said today, "UNSW management has a responsibility to consult properly with staff and their unions about any major workplace change, which includes any plan to outsource University services."

"Less than three months ago, University management announced that it would outsource cleaning and security services, which resulted in the loss of over one hundred jobs," Price continued. "Again management is ignoring their responsibilities under the UNSW collective workplace agreement. The NTEU will not stand by and see our members' rights stomped on, their jobs put at risk, and University mail services handed over to private, profit-making interests."

NTEU members have taken news of their plight to staff across the University, handing out flyers and collecting signatures on petitions as they deliver the mail.

more info:
Susan Price President, NTEU UNSW Branch (02) 9385 2479, 0400 320 602
Chris Game State Secretary, NTEU NSW, (02) 9212 5433, 0408 007 612