The university’s offer split campus unions, backed by the professional-staff based Community and Public Sector U and opposed by the National Tertiary Education U

Management offered improvements in conditions and pay lifts in a 9 per cent-10.5 per cent range across 2023-25.

The CPSU endorsed the offer as “fair” balancing the university’s “challenging financial situation” and local cost of living increases.

The NTEU campaigned against it, arguing the pay component is “inferior” to a recent deal at Western Sydney U. The union is also at odds with management on academic workloads, notably the block teaching model adopted last year.

There was a solid two-thirds turn-out for the all-staff vote last week with management’s offer getting up 685 to 604. The agreement now goes to the Fair Work Commission for approval.

This is a big win for management – one which it would not likely have won if the two unions were united in opposition.

Most staff at any university are not union members but those that aren’t listen to the comrades on wages and conditions – except if they are divided There were similar circumstances and outcome in an enterprise bargaining dispute at Charles Sturt U in 2013 (CMM September 22 2013).

Uni Southern Cross VC Tyrone Carlin was courteous in victory in a message to staff, “thank you for your engagement and participation in the journey we have been on. I genuinely believe that the agreement that we have collectively endorsed is a real step forward for our university.”

Although there is surely a hint of irritation in his reference to the “elongated bargaining process.”