As Victoria U management puts its own enterprise agreement proposal to staff (above) word from Newcastle U  observers is that management there is thinking of doing the same thing, especially as the Community and Public Sector Union there is not as hard-line as the National Tertiary Education Union. And Charles Sturt U observers suggest VC Andrew Vann is thinking of going it alone, again.

According to enterprise bargaining experts, the reason for the forceful flurry is the leadership transition at the NTEU, with outgoing general secretary Grahame McCulloch not quite gone and replacement Matthew McGowan not quite in place.  The NTEU head office is well-skilled in parachuting in to assist local leaderships when managements go hard so universities will need to be quick. Mr McGowan takes over on October 16.