Branch Executive December 2006

From left: Andrew Barnden (Treasurer), Ann Maharaj (Vice-President - Academic), Carol Williams (President), Joshua Beggs (Vice-President - General)

Charging for dial-in access? Another tax on the staff?

The secret squirrel has been informed through the forest underground that Monash will start charging staff for dial-in access to Monash. Anyone heard anything on this issue, let us know! Email us at nteu@monash.edu.au.

Yours truly,
Secret Squirrel

NTEU Letter to Larkins re parking

Dear Professor Larkins,

Please find attached a petition registering staff opposition to the rises in parking permit costs. The text of the petition reads:

We, the undersigned staff of the University, are opposed to the proposed steep rises in the cost of parking at the university campuses of Berwick, Caulfield, Clayton and Peninsula, where increases have ranged from 27% to 235%.

We regard these rises as excessive. They are a form of taxation on drivers in the absence of suitable public transport alternatives to the use of their private vehicles.

We support the call by the NTEU for a moratorium on fee rises while a strategy for dealing with the transport and environmental issues is developed and implemented.

Twelve hundred staff members have signed this petition and we expect this number to continue to grow as the campaign develops over the next few days and into the New Year.

In the letter “Increases to Parking Fees” of 16 November we note that the university plans to be “more mindful of its obligations to adopt more environmentally sensitive practices and policies as far as possible”. The letter also refers to the annual report for 2005 where the university referred to its intention to “reduce the need for parking permits”. We note that in the plans advised to us, there is an increase in the number of permits.

Please be assured that the NTEU and staff of Monash University are fully in support of the university in adopting more environmentally sensitive practices. We are willing to participate in the development and implementation of strategies for dealing with these environmental and transport issues.

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Carol J. Williams

President, NTEU Monash University Branch &

Chair, M.U.S.I.C.