Some 95 per cent of Murdoch University staff have endorsed the enterprise agreement proposed jointly by university management and the National Tertiary Education Union. And if you think that sounds like a poll of Pyongyang proportions it isn’t. As much as staff satisfaction with the deal the vote reflects a universal desire for an end to a long, very long, dispute.

Back in June 2016 CMM suggested, “it’s not that the two sides aren’t on the same page. They aren’t reading from the same book,” this turned out to set the scene for months of conflict. For a while enterprise bargaining at Murdoch U was a national proxy for a dispute between managements that wanted to simplify industrial terms and conditions and the union that wanted codified rights and protections to continue. This dispute continued at Murdoch long after other managements decided to settle.

Yesterday Murdoch’s Chief Operating Officer Darren McKee said the agreement, “delivers us all the certainty and the flexibility we require to underpin our continued growth. We look forward to continuing to work together to secure a strong future.’