I’m Dylan Griffiths, a Higher Degree by Research administration worker in Student Administration Services. I joined the NTEU in 2015. Between 2016 and 2018 I worked for the union at the Western Sydney University branch, helping lead its industrial campaign and bargaining round. Our industrial action gained new job security pathways for academic casuals and sector-leading workload clauses for Professional staff. I assisted in disputes that won at Fairwork, initiated successful conversion cases for fixed term staff, organised around workplace change, and recruited large numbers of members.
In 2018, I returned to the USYD starting in the Student Centre where I became a workplace delegate. When I started there were just 3 members in the work area, by the time I left we had a strong group of 20 members who were regularly meeting to discuss workplace issues. We built workplace power through local campaigns that removed unfair KPIs from our PDs, diversified our workloads, and which successfully advocated for new rostering provisions to stop unpaid overtime. I’ve personally drafted wage claims for colleagues who had been underpaid, enforced the agreement, and handled a variety of cases ranging from disciplinary to individual workplace change.
I moved to the HDR Centre in 2020 when the Jobs Protection Framework debate was raging. I joined with members to reject the framework proposed by the national leadership as I believe the best way to protect our jobs is building workplace power, not trading off pay and conditions. Unfortunately, our union failed to protect jobs during the pandemic and pursue organising-orientated alternatives to the JPF. I’m running for National Council, as well as branch committee, so I can influence the union at the national level and call for greater support for branches to organise.
This bargaining campaign management has shown hostility to professional staff, their log of claims looking to remove and water down important conditions including internal recruitment ringfencing and redundancy pay. I will fight to maintain our conditions and strengthen our job security provisions, access to flexible working arrangements, and a real pay rise of 2.5% above inflation.
Our bargaining campaign and negotiations have gone on for a year, disrupted by the pandemic. We’ve taken 3 days of industrial action and flagged to management that we’ll take action next semester unless they progress our claims. I support further industrial action to pressure management to meet our claims – it’s important to coordinate our negotiations and our industrial action campaign plan so they are in sync. We need to escalate our industrial action and seek resolution to our log. We need a clear pay offer from the University and responses to our claims.
We have a real chance to make change happen at the University – but that needs our vibrant grassroots campaign to continue and grow. We’ll need to bring new members on board, build towards even stronger strike action, and conclude negotiations not only with a fairer contract but a stronger union. That’s why I’m asking for your vote to be on branch committee.
I’m running with Rank and File Action.
Vote [1] David Brophy for Academic VP
Vote [1] Dylan Griffiths for General VP
Vote [1] Finola Laughren for Casual BC
Vote [1] to [8] for Ordinary Committee Member: [1] Markela Panegyres, [2] Dylan Griffiths, [3] Dani Cotton, [4] Cian Galea, [5] Ben Miller, [6] Luke Alexander, [7] Matte Rochford, and [8] Ben Graham
For a full how-to-vote and to find out how you can get more involved, go to https://rafausyd.wordpress.com
Rank-And-File Action USYD 