The National Tertiary Education Union has secured a significant victory for all Victorian casual staff who were set to miss out on pay on the public holiday to mark Queen Elizabeth II's death.
NTEU branches around the state called for all universities to ensure casuals would not miss out on pay because of the one-off National Day of Mourning.
While some institutions initially refused to ensure all workers would be paid, backlash from Union members sparked a backdown, meaning all casual staff will be paid for work cancelled because of the public holiday.
"This is a welcome change of heart from universities like RMIT which initially refused point blank to pay casuals on Thursday's upcoming public holiday," NTEU Victorian Division Assistant Secretary Sarah Roberts said.
"It was patently unfair for precariously employed university staff to be missing out on a day's pay because of the death of a monarch.
"Our union has scored a significant win for casuals - this shows the strength of our branches right across the state.
"While some universities shouldn't have taken this long to agree to basic fairness, the outcome is a victory for common sense."
