Stopping the SWiNdle: Billy the Billboard hits the road to spread the word

Bargaining isn't progressing fast enough, but the campaign for a new, fair deal at Swinburne is definitely on the move, thanks to the new mobile billboard crowdfunded by NTEU Swinburne members and local community supporters.

Christened Billy, the billboard is taking the EBA campaign to the streets of Hawthorn, Croydon and Wantirna to spread the message that staff at Swinburne will not be #SWiNdled!

NTEU Swinburne branch members, representatives from Victorian Trades Hall and supportive students gathered at Hawthorn campus on Wednesday (25 October) to give Billy the Billboard a big send off, with singing, dancing and a BBQ - an impromptu Billboard Block Party!

If you missed the launch, you can look through the photos and videos below, and if you see Billy driving about, then get out your phone, take a photo or video and post it on social media. tag NTEU Swinburne and use the hashtags #IsawBilly and #SWiNdled - you might win a prize!

Speaking at the launch, NTEU Swinburne Branch President Julie Kimber said: 

"Our colleagues are understaffed, overworked, and fed up with a Vice Chancellor who receives over a million dollars a year, while students and staff deal with broken systems, dirty classrooms, and insufficient investment in services. Staff confidence in the executive is so embarrassingly low that the university refuses to release the latest staff survey results.

"We want to change the direction of Swinburne and make it once again a place where staff and students are valued and want to be. NTEU members and the community have self-funded this billboard to tell our VC we won’t be SWiNdled!"

Let's keep up the pressure on the VC and university executive to deliver a new and fair enterprise agreement for all staff at Swinburne. Staff can't wait any longer - we need a new deal now, with Real Pay Rises | Secure Jobs | Fair Workloads. Read more about enterprise bargaining on the NTEU Swinburne Branch website and contact the branch if you have questions or want to get involved: [email protected].

If you missed the launch, check out the photos and videos below. See you at the next action!

NTEU Swinburne Branch

More information

Related Posts

/images/News%20Articles/swinburne%20wage%20theft.png

Swinburne's $2.85 million wage theft reignites calls for action

The National Tertiary Education Union has called for major changes to university governance after Swinburne admitted $2.85 million in wage theft from staff.

/images/Vic%20Div/SWI/Academic%20Intellectual%20Freedom.png

Bargaining Update

As of 25 March 2024, the draft agreement put forward by Swinburne's executive omits several key claims by the branch. Here you can see what has been achieved and what still needs to be done. A members' meeting has been called for 8 April. Check your

/images/news%20articles/wage%20theft%20report%20banner.png

NTEU reveals rampant wage theft at Australian universities

More than 97,000 university staff have suffered a collective $159 million in wage theft, according to a new National Tertiary Education Union analysis.