Issue No 65 | 04 August 2000 | |
News5000 Students Back the Hands that Feed Them
Students and workers at the University of New South Wales are joining forces to prevent the University from privatizing and outsourcing their food and beverage outlets.
The flogging off of these assets and services would result in an immediate loss of 30 jobs and undermine the job security of 200 other employees according to the LHMU. Students are concerned there will be an increase in prices, a change to operating hours and a loss of employment opportunities. Over 5000 students have signed a petition circulated by employees in support of keeping the services in-house. LHMU organiser Sophie Cotsis says the moves to outsource have been shrouded in secrecy without consultation with students or workers. 'Union activism has forced management to talk with a newly formed consultative committee,' she says. 'Union membership has jumped from 20 to over 200 in the last twelve months. And workers recently closed down the food and beverage outlets for the first time.' 'This stop work was followed by a march through the university grounds to protest outside the Vice Chancellor's office. Union members have been busy circulating the petition among students before and after work and in their lunchtimes.' Sophie Cotsis says with a captive market of 30,000 the university should b able to turn a healthy profit from the catering, keep jobs and maintain services. 'Members are putting together proposals to keep the outlets and making them more profitable so that assets are maintained in students hands and jobs are kept,' she says. There will be a public meeting next Tuesday on the UNSW campus at CLB3 at 1.00 pm where union reps and student reps will bring the issues out into the open.
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