A NUMBER of striking academics at the University of NSW will front lectures next week in defiance of being stood down without pay.
Senior staff from the law faculty and other schools will ignore an instruction from the university's director of human resources, David Ward, that ''no work will be accepted'' from them.
The National Tertiary Education Union branch president, Susan Price, said lectures would be held on campus lawns if the academics were denied access to their buildings.
''It wasn't our decision to stand them down,'' she said. ''The university had other options. They took the option with maximum response, backdating their action in some cases.''
A meeting held by union members yesterday voted to continue the strike until Tuesday.
As the dispute escalated, the university stood down more staff, with three academics from the school of chemistry joining up to 80 other workers.
The striking staff members are refusing to enter students' final exam results into the computer system as part of the campaign.
The union fears the vice-chancellor, Fred Hilmer, is trying to weaken its hold over working conditions and reduce staff participation in decisions. At the core of the dispute are demands for a reduction of staff on short-term contracts. Paid parental leave and workload are also being discussed.
Law students also signed a letter of complaint to Professor Hilmer. ''[The standing down of lecturers is a] shameful turning point in the quality of education offered by UNSW and [will] cause enduring damage to … the law faculty,'' they wrote.
A spokeswoman for Professor Hilmer said the standing down of staff had been staggered because of delays with processing results.
''About 60 letters have now gone out. They're being sent as human resources becomes aware of which staff are failing to transmit results as part of the [union] action.''
