A win, of sorts: University of New England management has had a win-ish in its interminable dispute with the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, over a new workload model.

The university wants a new workload model in its new-ish humanities, arts, social sciences and education faculty but last April Fair Work’s Commissioner Johns had a judgement reported saying nothing doing because a restructure of existing schools into the new academic unit did not end the effect of the policies that already existed (CMM April 11).

The commissioner confirmed the order in October (CMM October 17) but UNE appealed.

Some things stay the same: Now a full bench has found Commissioner Johns was right, except when he was wrong. Because the School of Education continued as before, but in the new faculty, its preceding academic workload policy stayed in place.

But one might change: However, this did not apply to the dean of the new faculty’s AWP’s for the three other schools, Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences; Humanities, and Arts, which ceased to exist and were rolled into the HASS school. “The language of the agreement makes no reference to nor contemplates a set of special arrangements for the preservation of previous AWPs in a newly formed school,” the commissioners now conclude. They accordingly have sent the question whether the university’s workload model for HASS is “a lawful exercise of managerial prerogative” back to Commissioner Johns.

Just not yet: But nothing will happen soon, “the balance of convenience favours the retention of the commissioner’s orders as a holding position. … The effect of quashing the order with respect to the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences would be to give immediate effect to the Dean’s direction. With a new academic year approaching, it would not be desirable to do so in advance of a decision as to its lawful status. Whilst this means the continuation for a period of time of the historic AWPs (which we have found was wrongly held to be extant) this is the industrially preferable course,” the commissioners state.