UWS bullying campaign & research proposal

Executive, 28 July 2008, EX88/08

"That the Executive approve the OHS officer examining the feasibility and scope of an appropriate research project, and prepare the necessary applications for the General Secretary's approval, to progress the scheme."

Following Annual Conference in 2006, members of the UWS Branch decided that a concerted effort was needed by the union to voice concerns about bullying at the university. Anecdotal evidence and the sheer number of individual grievances dealt with by industrial staff and delegates suggested a growing problem. An organising plan was drawn up and included a process for gauging concerns, identifying and training activists and some potential outcomes.

The successful campaigns already waged across the state public sector by our union meant that we had a great body of knowledge and experience on which to base our survey and strategy. In consultation with delegates and interested members, the union developed a survey, which we sent to all general staff to measure the extent of the problem. We received an overwhelming response that confirmed a wide cross-section of the general staff community across all campuses continued to experience bullying. Further findings suggest the process of relentless organisational change has had an impact. We believed that the policies crafted by management were inadequate to deal with the problem. We attended the launch of the PSA-negotiated 2007 Dignity and Respect (workplace bullying) guidelines with representatives from the UWS HR and Equity unit and agreed to begin dialogue on the issue. We also successfully negotiated for statistical analysis software from the university to help analyse trends in the responses we received.

Having compiled the data, member meetings were held to report back on our findings and to discuss and endorse a set of campaign demands. Subsequently, meetings with management were arranged to negotiate strategies that seriously address the issue.

The campaign progressed in 2007 with a presentation to management representatives of the PSA/Work Cover training package. The University agreed to sponsor this training, to be conducted by PSA OHS Education Officer, Dr. Pam Veivers and staff were released to attend. The University's Equity and Diversity Office have used the sessions to consult on the new University policy on bullying. The CPSU advocated that this should be a stand-alone policy and placed in the OHS context. The courses were attended by Equity and Diversity staff along with their colleagues from the UWS Professional Development Unit. The training was negotiated to be conducted in tandem with a roll-out of a more comprehensive set of policies and procedures underpinned by a workplace charter modelled on the Dignity and Respect in the Workplace Charter developed by the PSA, Unions NSW and the Premier's Employment Office.

These outcomes are significant for two reasons. It is the culmination of a successful campaign which has put this important issue at the centre of the agenda at UWS. Secondly, it represents the first step in winning back rights lost under the previous federal government's HEWRRs regime. The training package delivery has re-established the formal training partnership between the CPSU and the University and reintroduced union training on work time in the higher education sector.

Final meetings are being held with University representatives to conclude negotiations on the detail of the workplace bullying policy and to arrange for the Vice-Chancellor to sign a workplace charter at a media event which can further underscore the importance of this issue to UWS managers and staff.

AS well as negotiating these outcomes, in looking to the next phase of this campaign, we have scoped the possibility of an additional claim for a research grant funded academic position at the University to examine bullying cultures in Australian workplaces and to further develop solutions, under the auspices of the Workcover research grant program (where a union, employer and academic research organisation are party to a request).