The National Tertiary Education Union moves towards industrial action over enterprise bargaining at both

At Uni Canberra members have agreed to ask for a  protected action  ballot, the first step towards any withdrawal of labour, over stalled talks with management for a new agreement.

The union’s ACT secretary Lachlan Clohesy says there is progress on “key areas” including teaching hours for education-focused academics and opt-outs from the  assistant professor scheme, controversial under previous management (CMM November 21 2019 ).

However other issues, including flexible work arrangements, are not resolved.

And pay is a problem for the union, which claims that management was proposing a 3 per cent cap wage increases under a new enterprise agreement but is now suggesting annual increases under a new agreement ranging from 1.75 per cent to 2.5 per cent, depending on CPI, to cover concessions.

This, Mr Clohesy says, is “completely unacceptable”

However Uni Canberra states it is committed to a 3.5 per cent pay rise for 2023 and continues to  negotiate “salary increases and improved terms and conditions of employment.”

At Uni Queensland union members dissatisfied with progress in bargaining have also voted for a protected ballot on industrial action.

The old agreement expired a year back and management had proposed an extension to, “provide staff with greater stability at a time of uncertainty”. The National Tertiary Education Union asked for job protections in return for a delay and management decided to resume the bargaining process “with a view to reaching a new agreement,” (August 16 2021).

However nearly a year on the view of a new employment deal remains distant and while the university did provide a 2 per cent pay rise in January this was before inflation kicked-off and the union’s national leadership upped its all-unis claim to a 15 per cent pay rise across agreements, or CPI plus 1.5 per cent.

Last night Uni Queensland responded that “UQ acknowledges the rights of union members to take industrial action, and will continue to bargain in good faith to finalise the enterprise agreement in recognition of the continued hard work and commitment of our staff.”