Uni staff have told management what to do – keep talking to the union

On Monday the University of Sydney announced it would survey staff to ascertain whether they wanted to vote on the management pay offer now or negotiations with the union to continue. The response was decisive, with 4349 staff voting and 61 per cent of them responding that “they did not want to participate in a formal vote on the university’s proposals at this point in time.”

In a gracious acceptance of the unavoidable, last night Vice Chancellor Michael Spence told staff that the university is “continuing to talk to the unions … we have reached in-principle agreement on more than 90 percent of the unions’ claims.” However, Dr Spence added “as I said to the unions last Friday, we are not in a position to increase the overall financial package.”

Management is offering 2.1 per cent a year for the life of the four-year agreement, starting next July plus a $500 one-off payment.

This is a big win for the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, which worked hard this week to get the vote out. It now has a mandate to argue-on, and on. The next negotiating meeting is today.