UWA Guild Council Meeting Report – August 2022

Words by Justine Cerna

Every month the student representatives meet to discuss the business of the UWA Student Guild. This report details the happenings of the Student Guild Committee meeting held on Wednesday, August 31st, 2022.  

Talking points included transition to a new POS system and future student app integration, Guild Council’s ‘boycott’ of the Senate dinner, divestment, the Guild as a ‘union’, the early childhood education sector crisis, the climate crisis as witnessed in Pakistan, and the Uyghur crisis in China.   

1. WELCOME AND OPENING 

The meeting commenced at 6:03 PM with an acknowledgment of country by Rashdina Ramli (RR).  

6. DIRECTORS REPORTS

6.1 MANAGING DIRECTOR
Tony Goodman (TG) provides a quick update on the organisation’s major projects and changes.  

• Campus is locked into elections. This year is “logistically much easier” with fewer candidates.  

• Further meetings with TRCB regarding the master plan for Guild Village Buildings are starting. Student departments involved with the process should be prepared to discuss their ideas with the architects.  
• Society and Public Affairs Regulations passed. 
• Enterprise meetings are happening, and things are progressing well.  

6.2 FINANCE DIRECTOR by Director of Finance Mutya Maraginot-Joseph (MM-J) 

• Reports that July went well with a loss of $3575 against an expected loss of $85 935. “Reason for that is we have a good commercial window that month. Some expected expenditures did not occur. July is interesting because the expectation of campus is not busy.” 

• Commercial operation of the Guild was good – $251 000 in revenue against a predicted $240 000. This time last year revenue total was $213 000. Most outlets are within budget; second-hand bookshop sales are lower. “Catering outlets and tavern did way better this month.” 
• RSD – over budget 2700, the income coming from expenditures in August. Income is predicted to be approximately $4 000. As of July, they are $31 000 behind budget, but they are making ground.   

Council moves into camera to discuss outlets at 6:12 PM. Concludes at 6:18 PM.  

7. QUESTION TIME – DIRECTORS REPORTS

David Hallam (DH): What’s the Underpass project?
(TG): “That project is a brainchild of 2021. It involved improving lighting and updated artwork on the underpass walls. Three-part ownership of the underpass. The parties being the university, the City of Perth, and the Main Roads Department. Main Roads has done some work, but any more progress is sitting with the university.” 

8. STUDENT REPORTS

Tabled reports approved. The volunteering Chair has no report.  

9. QUESTION TIME STUDENT REPORTS

Nil. 

10. BUSINESS FROM THE EXECUTIVE

10.1 The 109th Council accepts the resignation of Kaelin Abrahams from the position of Pride Co-officer effective immediately and recognises the work he has done thus far.  

Moved by Narendra Gammanpila (NG)
Seconded by Amitabh Jeganathan (AJ)  

Comments:  

• (AJ moves to give speaking rights to Kaelin Abrahams). KA says it has been a privilege to be a Pride Co-officer and thanks Paris Javid for helping him in the role. “It was a fun, turbulent year, and we’re excited for Pride.” The reasoning for resignation stems from participation in the current Guild elections. KA hopes to pass duties on to Seren Moulds (SM), who will continue the work. 

AJ moves a procedural motion to accept the appointment of Seren Moulds effective immediately. Motion is seconded by PJ. 

Motion passes.  

 10.2 The 109th Council commends the work that OGC Charlotte Kennedy has done with UDUB radio and recognises the value this platform will have to students and campus culture.  

Moved by Prisha Goel (PG)
Seconded by Amitabh Jeganathan (AJ) 

Comments: 

• AJ: “She’s done an amazing job [with] UDUB Radio. Charlotte worked through a lot of the legal process and provided a lot of help to the Guild.” 

Questions time:  

• Adam Elyousef (AE): “What are the finances behind UDUB radio?”
  Charlotte Kennedy (CK): “Liability insurance has been procured. A code of conduct is in place to address any claims.” 

Motion passes 

12. MOTIONS ON NOTICE OPERATIONS 

12.1The 109th Council approves the business case for the new POS system and endorses the budget for the upfront investment of $94 481.40  

Moved by Rashdina Ramli (RR)
Seconded by Prisha Goel (PG) 

Comments:  

• RR informs the council that the Guild is in the process of moving to a new POS system, Calista, after review by the Strategic Resources Committee. “I think it is a justified investment, and I encourage you to vote in favour.”
  (Additional note that $94 481 does not include integration with applications or websites.) 

Questions: 

• DH: Can you explain the decision behind this POS system, the need for recording sales, scanning, etc.? 

MM-J: A couple of reasons. TASK (current POS system) is not user-friendly as it doesn’t provide good information. It’s [also] old. We are thinking of having an associated website that students can access [to see their activity]. Additionally, the warranty is over, so anything that breaks cannot be serviced. 

TG: “TASK, when installed six years ago, was the best tech. Calista will help back-end efficiency with data manipulation and stocktaking. It’s more powerful and sophisticated. As Mutya said, it’s friendly to apps – Varsity has already started using the program. Students will be able to see how much they are saving on coffee, food, etc. Cost comparison – we pay $35 000 in annual fees for TASK; it is a little less than $20K for this new system (after implementation costs). 

• PJ: Can you ensure that the new system will show the correct names? There are already cases of students being “dead named”. (Note: For students who indicated a preferred name different to the one under which they are enrolled). 

TG: This might not be possible just yet. 

• DH: Will there be a Guild app? 

Mutya: Not until later in the year. Have to make sure the new POS system is stable. 

TG: We need to take this a step at a time. We need to trial it first. 

• Question from the floor: Regarding UWA student data, Calista has been hacked. What sort of data are you hoping to use, and how are you guaranteeing the safety of this data? 

TG: We’re basically monitoring spending patterns so that the Guild can provide more targeted help.  

• CK: (On the subject of the Student Guild App) Can it be integrated with UDUB Radio? 

• TG: Maybe.  

Motion passes.   

13. MOTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE OPERATIONS 

Nil.  

14. MOTIONS ON NOTICE (REPRESENTATION) 

14.1 The 109 Guild Council:  

14.1.1 Affirms its commitment as a student union to fight for better staff and student conditions at UWA.
14.1.2 Acknowledges that it would be disingenuous for Guild Office Bearers to attend the Senate Dinner this year in recognition of the 2021 UWA Restructure and the planned divestment campaign targeting UWAs ties to fossil fuels.
14.1.3 Acknowledges that the UWA Restructure was not an isolated event and represents the counterposed interests of management and students.
14.1.4 Commends the work of student and staff activists, especially those at the University of Sydney, who have been able to successfully strike, picket, and disrupt the operations of the university bureaucracy to fight for better learning conditions.
14.1.5 Reallocates those funds for $10 Guild Outlet Vouchers for up to 700 self-declared, low-income students to be distributed by the Education Council, Education Action Network and other relevant departments.
14.1.6 Commits to boycotting the Senate Dinner and to publishing an open letter explaining the reasons for the boycott, to be signed by participating Guild office bearers or student representatives and other Guild-affiliated invitees to the dinner.
 

Moved by Nicole McEwen
Seconded by David Hallam 

Comments: 

• NM: “The way the Guild has been run for years has been very accommodating to the university Senate, in the belief that there will be good [student-focused] outcomes. The Vice-Chancellor has a hundred of thousands dollar salary, whilst many staff face rampant wage theft. Management is not on the side of students and staff. The purpose of the dinner has been for council members to rub shoulders with management. It’s not something we should be doing as a student union. There’s no use spending this money [on this]; we could be giving that money to students.  Talking to a broad strategical question of the Guild and its role in relation to the Senate and the students – the Partnership only means anything if there is a win for the students, and historically [recently], this hasn’t been the case. We need to engage with students and have activist activities all year round. We should be fighting for a shift.” 

Concluding comments in the debate: “The channels of communication are in meetings or boards. Nobody is saying boycott these. Last year’s Guild President voted for the cut. The only thing that the Guild has done before is advertising for the Senate. Activist activity mobilises media against the university. This is about accountability.”  

• DH: “To use the metaphor of putting on a shirt, [attending the Senate dinner as a student representative] is like doing it up with one hand, and the other hand undoes it right after. It is a contradictory thing to do.” 

“To provide context regarding industrial action – I attended EdCon during the break, and students around the country are aware they are getting screwed [in terms of teacher-student ratios]. Curtin is going to soon mobilise on the issue of quality of education/teaching conditions. Relations between NTU and management at Curtin have broken down. EVA negotiations (at Curtin) were denied by management. This is all going to happen at UWA soon – where the Guild sits in the political and social landscapes of the university is important – we can’t be going to dinners. We can have conversations with them. What is the political argument for you as a student representative? Get rolled by the meetings or actually engage and act for the student community. It’s important.” 

And later in Question time: “On the subject of Partnership Committees – the university is trying to get the Education Council President off the Academic Board Committee. So, there you go.” [Report note: David Hallam currently sits as the Education Council President]. 

Question time: 

TG: For context, the University and the Guild Council swap hosting the dinner each year. This year the students are boycotting. One thing we need to talk about are ideas of eligibility for student assistance. 

• Seren Moulds (SM): Will it function similar to a Food Bank?
  TG: The budget is $700; we will probably market this as a welfare measure.
   
• Amira Nun (AN): I am interested in how easy it was to cancel. What was the response?
  AJ: The uni did not want the smoke.
  TG: Also, the Senate was going to host it on the first day of election polling day – it was not going to fly.
   

• DH providing additional comment: This needs to be a PR problem; we need to promote the idea that we boycotted. It is an awareness thing. When was the last time that a guild made a credible threat? This could be the start.
   
• Jak Beard (JB): On ‘getting to know the Senate members’ Could there be an induction at the start of the year. Meet who does what in management? Food for thought? 

• NM: The question is should we do that? What are people getting out of it? The information is available.
    
• SM: If we continue [to boycott] moving forward, where will the money go?
  DH: Cross the bridge when we get there.  

Debate: 

Arguments For  

• AE: Commends the motion as “the start of an activist Guild.” Supports the idea of department activity too. “We need to let the student body know that we are an organisation that does shit.” 
• GJ: Important that there is a definite indication that we are fighting for students, especially given the decreasing quality of education. We are pushing the university to treat staff better.
   
• NM: Following David’s comments on industrial action, there is an opportunity to fight back with staff. UWA’s EBA (enterprise bargain agreement) is about to expire. Negotiations begin in September/October. We should argue on behalf of students that they want their teachers’ bargaining improved. Working conditions issues are rampant and impacting our education. Staff and students are on the same team; management is on the other. Can we debate this more? [Reporters note: the last comment addresses the lack of input against the motion].
   
• DH: First thing that will happen if things go badly is that staff will stop doing work they are not [technically] getting paid for, i.e., the hours spent marking. We need to keep activist momentum [going] for future Guilds and students.  
• Lara Dale (LD): (to NM) Actually, lots of people I talk to don’t know that the Guild and University are different, and I think there should be more education on that. This could be the start.  

• AE (now dissenting), addressing the Partnership: Can we push for more students sitting on Partnership committees, so there is more insight? I think the Partnership can be a good thing and we should not do away with it. 
• Matt Crossen (MC): Support the staff. Our interests are aligned. Students [elsewhere in the country] are showing up. The hard-picket line in Sydney happened because students rallied around the staff. 

Arguments against – nil 

The council moves to a vote. There is a majority vote in favour and one abstention.  

Motion passes. 

Break at 7:17 PM. Council returns to the session at 7:27 PM.  

15. MOTION WITHOUT NOTICE (REPRESENTATION)

15.1 The 109th Guild council:  

15.1.1 Expresses solidarity with the UWU workers striking across Australia to shut down the early childhood education sector on the 7th of September in response to the stagnating wages of millions of workers across the country.
15.1.2 Endorses the rally at the Perth Cultural Centre at 1 PM on the 7th and encourages all students to support the strike by attending, and by not sending children to centres that day.
15.1.3 Supports the demand to increase pay, regard the sector as education akin to school, and put children before profit.
15.1.4 Condemns the sexist nature of relatively low pay in fields dominated by women, as it is a major factor in continuing the gender pay gap and devaluing the labour of women workers.  

Moved by Nicole McEwen
Seconded by Chloe Bryant 

Comments: 

• (NM) endorses the rally on the 7th of September.  
• (CB) encourages everyone to attend the rally. “Power of the workers is in the collective. We need to show up.” 

Question time: 

SM proposes an amendment to 15.1.2 to change location to James Street Amphitheatre – address from the United Workers Union (UWU). Amendment friendly. On behalf of UWU, he informs the council of the solidarity membership system.  

Debate: 

Arguments For  

• DH: Join your union. Strikes are going to be significant in the next six–twelve months. The average union worker is actually a woman. Unions are welcoming; join ‘em.  
• Dana Fung (DF) speaking to 15.1.4: From a feminist economics point of view, it’s important to recognise the stats. Women make up 40% of the workforce; 70% of health care workers are females. It’s important to show up to the rally.    

Motion passes. 

15.2 The 109th Guild Council: 

15.2.1 Acknowledges the extreme current weather situation in Pakistan, including the severe floods and landslides.
15.2.2. Condemns the actions of countries that keep contributing to the world’s global emission of greenhouse gases.
15.2.3 Encourages all students affected by this crisis to seek help from Student Assist.
15.2.4. Recommends ISD and the UWA Pakistan Society to raise awareness of the issue and run a fundraiser to help the people in need in Pakistan.  

Moved by GJ
Seconded by Anushka Murkherjee (AM) 

Comments:  

• GJ: “Pakistan is going through a tough time: floods, loss of life, disease – the situation is bad. The climate crisis [as experienced in such places] is related to greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries, Australia included. We are holding a Pakistan Support session (under Welfare) on the 7th of September for anyone who needs help.” 
• AE (in debate): “Pakistan produces less than 1% of the world’s emissions but ranks in the top 10 as countries impacted by climate change. Something to reflect on, what our footprint is contributing to.” 

Question time:  

• NM: [Can we] tie it in with the referendum for divestment? The crisis will continue if these companies continue to plunder the earth. Suggests new clause 15.2.5 Condemns links between UWA and fossil fuel industry that contribute to the climate crisis etc…  

It is friendly.  

Motion passes. 

15.3 The 109 Guild Council will promote the expression of interest form for the Extinction Rebellion protest and endorses the rally.  

Moved by NM
Seconded by Catherine Cheeseman (CC) 

Comments: 

NM: “Extinction Rebellion reached out to Climate Action Network and asked if we can do something via the Guild.” 

Motion passes. 

15.4 The 109th Guild Council:  

15.4.1 Acknowledges the Uyghur crisis; the hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in “re-education centres” is an act of ethnic cleansing and genocide.
15.4.2 Condemns the Chinese government for committing a series of human rights abuses against Uyghurs, including but not limited to heavy policing, sterilisation, forced labour systems, and strict surveillance.
15.4.3 Supports the Ethnocultural Department in running a campaign to raise awareness regarding human rights violations in north-western China.  

Moved by AE
Seconded by AN 

Comments: 

• AE: “Mass genocides have been happening in Xinjiang for a long time. Chinese authorities [justify] this by saying that people need to be sterilised. Australia is not severing ties; [the government and big business] are not labelling it as genocide. Chinese authorities are stopping these people from being who they are.”  
• AN: “This has been happening for some time – years. How has it only come up now when it is so horrific?” 

Question time: 

SM: advises of a typo in 15.4.2 heaving policing, which is corrected to heavy policing.  

Debate: 

Arguments For 

• DH: Normalising this activity is exasperated by the fact that those in power say we need to separate our economic ties [with China] from social and political ones. We as a Guild (and Australian people) should say no. You can’t separate them.  
• AE: We have students on campus affected by this.  

Motion passes. 

15.5 The 109th Council approves of the appointment of Lara Dale, who replaces Charlotte Kennedy as tenancy chair. 

Moved by Jak Beard (JB)
Seconded by AJ 

Comments:  

JB: Lara has been secretary for SOC; she has good relationships with the clubs. 

Motion passes. 

16. GENERAL BUSINESS 

16.1 Project Updates 

Send any project updates to Naz directly so [he] can collate and send them to marketing to update the policy tracker.  

16.2 Semester 2 Campus Activation strategy (Prisha Goel speaking) 

In relation to campus culture, social media’s perspective is “Campus is OK”.  

17. CLOSE AND NEXT MEETING

The Guild Council concludes at 8 PM. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 28th of September, 2022, at 6:00 PM.