NTEU members at Uni Sydney strike tomorrow as part of enterprise bargaining which only feels like it’s been going longer than the 30 Years War

The National Tertiary Education Union was not impressed with management’s offer put to staff last month. Branch president Nick Riemer tweeted (February 22) says there will be “strike action” … “until we get the justice at work we deserve.”

Which looks like leading to more bargaining, given management, is “absolutely focused on reaching agreement with the staff unions and finalising bargaining as soon as possible and would not want to speculate beyond that process,” (CMM February 23).

“Beyond that process” there is not much other than putting an offer direct to an all-staff staff, which the the university would have to be very confident it had the numbers to do. Offers the union opposes rarely win popular votes.

Especially when the other union does as well. The Community and Public Sector Union’s branch at Uni Sydney also opposes management’s wage offer.

Management and unions meet on Tuesday. The present round of bargaining for a new enterprise agreement began in August ’21.