Bullied@UTS

Back in January 2014, we commented on UTS’s suspension of the NTEU Branch President Simon Wade and called on the UTS Management to be transparent in its handling of this matter.

On 23rd June 2014, The Australian reported that UTS sacked Mr Wade as an audiovisual technician on 8th May 2014. It was stated that UTS’s internal investigation had “proven dishonesty and fraud”. The case then went to the Federal Circuit court and on June 23rd, it was reported that the court rejected a plea for his reinstatement.

The Australian – Plea to reinstate UTS union leader Simon Wade rejected by court

On the 21st of August 2014, the NTEU announced that Simon Wade and UTS had reached a settlement and that “the parties have agreed that they will make no further public comments about the matter.”

NTEU: Resolution of Simon Wade’s adverse action case in Federal Court

Regrettably, transparency has eluded us once again and we will likely never know what really took place.

Bullied@UTS is deeply concerned by UTS’s decision to suspend National Tertiary Education Union branch president Simon Wade from his job, claiming “serious misconduct”.

Mr Wade is a UTS general staff member in the Audio-Visual team and has been working at the university for 16 years.

We take very seriously the NTEU’s allegation that he has been “targeted in his workplace due to his involvement in enterprise bargaining on behalf of UTS staff”.

We are not in a position to comment on the veracity of UTS’s allegations of misconduct, but we will be following this matter closely.

We call on UTS Management to be transparent in its handling of this matter and to also ensure that when enforcing its code of conduct, that it be applied equally to all university staff members and not simply when it may serve a political purpose.

We note that the NTEU held a 150-strong rally in support of Simon in front of the UTS Tower building on Monday 16th December 2013 and 1400 people have signed a petition protesting his suspension.

Relevant Links:

• New Matilda Article: “UTS Suspends Union Boss During Negotiations”
• NTEU Petition: “Defend union rights at UTS; lift suspension of NTEU President”
• NTEU Rally Photos: “Rally supports suspended NTEU UTS Branch President”