Staff will vote on management’s proposed enterprise agreement next Wednesday – Friday

The offer is backed by the Community and Public Service Union, after a unanimous vote by campus members. The CPSU calls the pay offer (9 per cent to 15 per cent over three years) “fair,” balancing the university’s “challenging financial situation” and cost of living increases.

However the National Tertiary Education Union is adamantly opposed. “Management have put forward a proposed enterprise bargaining agreement that strips core conditions and offers staff a real wage cut.” The NTEU calls, (via Twitter) for a no vote, to “force management back to the negotiating table.”

While industrial relations at every university are unhappy in their own way, management bargaining teams across the country will consider what happens at SCU. Winning a vote against the NTEU does not oft occur and if it happens at SCU other managements will try.