University enterprise bargaining is now a big industrial deal

Andrew Probyn (ABC) asked Employment and Work Place Relations minister Tony Burke a question at the National Press Club, the other day. He wanted to know what would happen under the proposed IR law if the National Tertiary Education Union  and the Community and Public Sector Union were split over a university management enterprise agreement offer. Would there not, he asked be a problem if the union with more members agreed to an offer, but the smaller one didn’t, which would lead to the Fair Work Commission intervening because under the proposed law both unions must agree.

To which the Minister politely, if not entirely clearly, responded, but what intrigues CMM is how hypothetical union disagreements at universities came to be a big issue for the bill.