The proposed enterprise agreement at Uni Sydney took as long to negotiate as the Geneva Convention – there is no mention of prisoner exchanges but otherwise it’s a big deal

Not all the NTEU are happy (CMM yesterday) but if this gets up it will be the benchmark all other university agreements are compared to and it will pile on the pressure at the other rich as Croesus campus – Uni Melbourne.

Uni Sydney observers suggest important aspects of the offer include,

* an 18.2 per cent payrise (including a June’22 increase) through to June 26. Plus a $2000 signing bonus

* “all reasonable steps” by management to reduce the casual academic workforce by 20 per cent and three-year fixed term roles for PhD students – instead of rolling casual contracts.

* 40 per cent teaching, 40 per cent research and 20 per cent service stays the default academic work basis for staff who are not education-focused. This would be a major win for the National Tertiary Education Union

* cap of 25 per cent for education focused roles among continuing staff

* new/improved leave provisions to suit life-circumstances

* improved working from home “flexibility for professional staff

* “right to disconnect from work away from work”

what happens next: is a vote by union members on Tuesday and if they approve the proposal goes to an all staff vote.

If the first does not happen management could take the offer to all staff without union endorsement however Uni Sydney has long held it will not do this.