University of Melbourne staff to strike for one week

The university's union members last went on strike in August, when some staff stopped work for half a day and others took a week or more off, the union said.

"Victoria is seeing unprecedented strike action in universities because staff have had enough of being denied fair pay, secure jobs and safe workloads," the union's national president Alison Barnes said.

"The University of Melbourne has engaged in $45 million worth of wage theft and hands $1.5 million a year to its vice-chancellor.

"The idea that any of the union's claims are anything but affordable and practical ways to improve the university simply doesn't stack up."

University of Melbourne acting union branch secretary Chloe MacKenzie said there were still too many areas management had failed to engage constructively on, despite some progress since staff last went on strike.

She said management ignored members' pleas to slash excessive workloads, failed to make adequate progress on limiting restructures, and refused to give staff reasonable working-from-home arrangements. 

The university had also failed to budge on members' demands for cultural awareness and safety training, with all the unions' qualms culminating in staff taking the drastic step to go on a week-long strike, Ms Mackenzie said.

Union members working at RMIT would also strike for a half-day on Thursday and hold a rally, before linking up with their University of Melbourne peers, who were planning to march, the union said.

The University of Melbourne and RMIT have been contacted for comment.

In response to the August strike, a University of Melbourne spokesman said management had been negotiating in good faith.

"We are shortly entering into a phase of intensified negotiations in order to resolve the sticking points, having already reached in-principle agreement on a number of matters," he said at the time.

"As experienced across the entire sector, regrettably bargaining has typically been protracted."

The university pointed to two pay rises outside of bargaining over the past two years as recognition of work by staff.