There is nothing relaxed about the argument over casuals at UTS. The campus branch of the NTEU estimates 75 per cent of the university’s workforce are casuals or on fixed term contracts (CMM Tuesday). To which a learned reader responded that the union would have to include students working part-time, people with seasonal jobs and professionals who teach as part of their practice (CMM Wednesday). And now the union returns fire to the returned fire; “no matter which way you look at it, having 5000 of your 8000 staff on casual contracts and another 1000 or so on fixed-term contracts doesn’t add up to job security. … Every year hundreds of staff on casual and fixed-term contracts at UTS wait in the hope their contracts are renewed. Many of them have been in this situation doing the same job for years.

“UTS and the sector are completely at odds with the wider economy where around 65% of workers have permanent employment (either full-time or part-time),” UTS union president Vince Caughley says.