Word is that the new national leadership of the National Tertiary Education Union has had a big win, with Gabe Gooding winning the contested election for assistant general secretary. WA state secretary Gooding is said to have picked up two-thirds of the vote, giving her a decisive win over the only other candidate, UTS branch president Vince Caughley.

Mr Caughley ran on a platform of taking a tougher line with university managements during negotiations. This was always going to be a hard-sell given Ms Gooding’s role in long and bitter enterprise bargaining with Murdoch University management. During the dispute the university launched individual legal action against Ms Gooding and a colleague, which it later withdrew, making her something of a hero among many members.

Ms Gooding will join new federal president Alison Barnes (from Macquarie U) and national secretary Matthew McGowan, who moves up from the assistant nat sec position. They were both elected unopposed.