The EAG have been told by an anonymous staff member in the FASS faculty that Management have given FASS staff a “directive” that they are not to allow EAG members to speak in their classes, in the lead up to our forum on the cuts currently being made at UTS. This is a shameful attack and is characteristic of a Management that has sought to shut out and quiet the EAG all year. It is obvious why management don’t want us to speak with staff and students about their attacks on staff and our education, because they know that their actions are completely callous, financially unjustified and demonstrative of their true motivation; profit and profit alone. At a time when management are cutting over 53 FTE staff members across FEIT, FASS, SOLS and Business faculties, on top of over 300 staff members cut last year, and in the midst of the NTEU’s EBA, it’s important that staff and students speak and organise together. 

This is an attack on our freedom of speech, and our freedom to organise activism as staff and students, ontop of the root cause attacks on our education and on staff jobs. Classes are ours; staff and students’, not management’s, and they exist for the purpose of our education. When our education is under attack, we must speak about this in classes that may cease to exist, or be severely damaged, if Management have their way. Staff cannot be told by management what can and can’t be discussed in our classes, and we will keep working with staff and students to make sure everyone knows what is happening to our education, and organising against it. 

Already this year the EAG have had security called on us for trying to attend redundancy town hall meetings in support of staff, had posters taken down and had a rude, threatening response to emails expressing genuine student concern from Deans. 

We demand that UTS Management, and the Leadership of the FASS faculty: 

Stop repressing staff and student activism 
Make clear their commitment to the freedom of speech of staff and students 
Apologise to FASS staff, and EAG students, for attempting to stifle activism 
Cease to interfere in the right of staff and students to organise against attacks on their jobs and education 

Join the EAG to get involved in the fight back against the cuts at UTS

FB: @UTSEAG 

Email: Education@utsstudentsassociation.org