Unarchived: Green Left Weekly interview
This previously-unpublished interview from late 2005 backgrounds the Unfair Dismissal case brought by the Defend Our Universities committee against RMIT: see
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/119642.php
Great Debate II
Professor Richard Harris (California State University) wrote a critique of the Austin dismisal, published below. In view of the misinformation disseminated by management, we now publish the debate between Professor Harris, Professor Manfred Steger (ex-Head, RMIT School of International & Community Studies) and Dr Robert Austin which ensued. See:
http://members.westnet.com.au/j.henriquez2/msg2vc/gb2.pdf.
Neocon Ideologues & University Politics
This article originally appeared in the
Freedom Socialist Bulletin, Nº 34 (2006). An updated version has been published at
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/04/109911.php
RMIT NTEU branch meeting
The DOU committee thanks the 120 branch members who petitioned for a meeting on Dr Austin's dismissal, which took place on 9 March at the City Campus. Branch executive abandoned normal practice of a parallel meeting at the Bundoora campus. A school delegate had requested that there be consecutive meetings on both campuses so that key members could address both. The net result was no quorum (c. 40 members present) and no vote on the resolutions below:
1. This meeting of RMIT NTEU members condemns RMIT management for its failure to follow probation procedures and proper process, leading to the dismissal of Dr Robert Austin. Further, we condemn the lack of natural justice afforded to him. We call on the Vice Chancellor to reverse the dismissal and nullify the probation report on the basis of breach of procedure.
2. Further, we denounce management’s practice of publishing and disseminating insidious and unsubstantiated claims about the member or any member, thereby impugning his or her professional reputation.
3. This meeting endorses a work ban on the backfilling of Dr Austin’s Spanish program coordinator duties, and on all other duties included in Dr Austin’s job description and/or agreed during 2005.
4. We direct the Branch Committee to organise a public demonstration on the steps of the State Library at 12:30 PM on Wednesday 22 March, in the week before the AIRC hearing.
A Solidarity Fiesta/Fundraiser will be held at the Comrades Bar, 520 Swanston St, Melbourne on Saturday 15 April, from 7 pm -midnight. Salvadorean dance group XochitlQuetzal will perform; empanadas will be available. All proceeds go to the DOU fighting fund. Thanks to the ETU and Union Solidarity for their support. For more details, click on the header above, plus
http://www.unionsolidarity.org/downloads/2006/04/robert-austin-solidarity-fiesta.htm and
http://www.unionsolidarity.org/downloads/SolidarityFiesta.pdf
