The university and National Tertiary Education Union settle on a new enterprise agreement

The discretely negotiated proposal will now go to the union’s members for approval and if they sign-off, to an all-staff vote.

“We jointly thank staff and union delegates for their collaborative approach to the bargaining process which has enabled an outcome to be achieved in a timely manner, VC Colin Stirling and NTEU SA secretary Andrew Miller said in a joint statement yesterday.

Terms include a 13.2 per cent payrise across the three-year agreement, a couple of per cent below the union’s national ask.

There are also a 10 per cent lift in the marking rate for academic casuals and 36 new continuing positions for them.

Plus improvements to parental leave, new gender affirmation leave provisions, and “elevated” career development opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.

Continuing jobs for casuals is a practical benefit but also a wise concession by management. A test case on casual conversion last year featured Flinders U’s long serving Toby Priest. He lost because the Fair Work Commission found that while he met the time-worked test the existing enterprise agreement did not cover converting him to continuing work (CMM May 16 ’22).

The proposed agreement is a big win for all involved in the process, accomplished quietly without the years of argument at other institutions – morning all at Uni Sydney or bitter ballots, (scroll down).