On Thursday 28 August, a University of Sydney NTEU meeting of 140 people voted overwhelmingly to defy the five new speech policies introduced by management in June this year.
The policies restrict the rights of staff and students to send “bulk emails”, to display banners without approval, engage in public commentary, fly flags, and outright ban students from making lecture announcements in class.
These policies are in addition to the Campus Access Policy which requires staff and students to seek approval before holding a rally or handing out leaflets.
The motion of defiance noted the seriousness of the threat and called on members to defy the policies, while also committing the NTEU to use its “full authority” to support members facing disciplinary action. Although NTEU branch president Peter Chen and NTEU legal staff said they could not condone actions that might result in staff losing their jobs, members argued from the floor that we should engage in organised and collective defiance to break the policies and make them a dead letter. The members’ arguments won out.
The Campus Access Policy has been regularly and successfully defied by staff and students, but management is becoming more belligerent. History lecturer David Brophy had a Palestine flag forcibly removed from his office window last month, and the University’s digital notice board “Viva Engage” is being heavily moderated. But despite staff receiving warning letters at least four new flags are currently flying out of office windows.
Union activists are now distributing flag flying guides, encouraging more staff to act together to defy the policies.
On 10 September NTEU members will join a “Leave Work Early for Palestine” day of action, rallying at 4pm demanding that USyd cut ties with the Hebrew University, divest from defence and weapons companies, and rescind the anti-free speech policies.
While this will not be industrial action, union activists will do our best to encourage staff to act together to make the action a success.
After our 4pm rally we will march to UTS, joining other NTEU branches ahead of a “Sanction Israel” Union Solidarity rally at Defence Department Plaza initiated by the NSW Division of the NTEU.
By Matte Rochford
