They are not digging trenches at Macquarie University, despite enterprise bargaining about to start. Instead of management and unions sending each other a bunch of demands and refusing to budge on them, (until they do), they are going to try talk through their objectives with the Fair Work Commission refereeing.

“Interest-based bargaining processes are usually facilitated by an independent person, and generally open with discussions around an issue and each party’s interests. Joint problem solving sessions follow, and decisions are made by the whole group following assessment of each option against a set of agreed criteria,” the FWC explains.

Enterprise agreements in universities can take months, stretching into years to reach, as management and union argue each other into exhaustion – so the new process is in everybody’s interest. And if it does not work, not to worry they can dig trenches.