Enterprise bargaining drags on

Members of the National Tertiary Education Union at Monash U will take half-day protected industrial action next Wednesday, protesting the pace of negotiations and outstanding issues in enterprise bargaining – much the same as they did in October. Back then they were cross about pay, management’s proposed discipline procedures, workload changes – and the absence of an agreement after 15 months of talks.

They are still upset about how long negotiations are taking but the headline issues have narrowed to “genuine job opportunities” for casually-employed academics and an extension of the span of hours, in which the professional workforce can be required to work a standard shift, to 8pm. The union says, “this represents a substantial pay cut for those currently earning overtime rates for these unsociable hours.”