University of Tasmania staff will walk off the job for half a day on Wednesday as a long-running pay dispute escalates.
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has served notice of the stoppage after bargaining talks failed to deliver a breakthrough this week.
Hundreds of staff have already taken part in two-hour stoppages across the Hobart, Launceston, Cradle Coast and Rozelle campuses over the past week.
The union says UTAS staff are the lowest paid of Australia’s 37 public universities and have already given up a 2% pay rise in 2020.
The university is offering a 3% annual wage increase plus a $1,000 cost-of-living payment for staff earning under $150,000.
The NTEU wants an average 3.8% a year, arguing the gap with mainland universities is widening as rents and inflation climb.
NTEU Tasmania division secretary Ruth Barton said members were fed up with carrying the university’s financial problems.
“Our members have had enough of being held responsible for UTAS’ financial stability,” Barton said.
“To add insult to injury, they are now being told to tolerate declining wages simply because they are Tasmanian.”
“Members will not continue to pay out of their own pockets to paper over management’s mistakes and that is why they have shown out in their hundreds to work stoppages.”
Barton said the union’s offer reflected what was being awarded across the sector.
“Inflation continues to run away from us, yet UTAS continues to tell members they are being unreasonable,” she said.
“The NTEU’s pay offer is fair. It genuinely balances real cost of living with what we are seeing awarded across the sector and it will stop UTAS staff from falling further behind mainland counterparts.”
A UTAS spokesperson said the university respected the right of staff to take industrial action but had asked the union to limit the disruption to students.
The university said its offer was a serious attempt to support staff through cost-of-living pressures while protecting jobs and keeping the institution financially stable.
