News Flash

The unions involved in the Enterprise Bargaining negotiations at the South Australian Universities are frustrated with the slow pace of bargaining. 

CPSU is considering what action may need to be taken if negotiations do not result in acceptable responses to the CPSU Log of Claims.

Sydney University negotiated a ground breaking new collective workplace agreement.

The new collective workplace agreement will see Sydney University staff receive an 18.3% wage increase over the life of the agreement (two and a half years).  This agreement could be a template for the industry, which will facilitate attracting the best academic and general staff in the country.  The agreement will see the restoration of employment standards that were lost in 2005 when the Howard Government legislated for industry specific restrictions on union activity and collective bargaining.

Most universities around Australia have settled for agreements around 16% and the restoration of conditions. 

University of South Australia

UniSA has responded to industrial action by notifying the unions involved in the negotiations that the bargaining unit meeting scheduled for 21 September is cancelled.

The Lead Negotiator for the UniSA EB Management team has advised the following:-

"A broad rejection of the University's offer, coupled with industrial bans and strike action, with direct impacts on our students and reputation is problematic.  The university wishes to continue  negotiations to achieve a new wage and conditions package, but continued disruption to students through industrial action is not, in our view, how that can best be achieved.  To that end the bargaining unit meeting scheduled on 21 September 2009 is postponed." 

 The unions involved in negotiating the new agreement with the UniSA EB Management Team believe that the university is not negotiating in good faith as is required under s228 of the Fair Work Act 2009.  CPSU represents the interests of Professional staff in the discussions and, although we did not apply for a ballot to take industrial action, this may need to be reviewed in view of the cancellation of the negotiating meeting and the fact that even after months of negotiating we have not even drafted a single clause.

The unions have now invited the University  Management to continue the negotiations at a meeting that we have scheduled to be held on 28 September. The interpretation by CPSU regarding s228 of the Fair Work Act 2009 is  that attending and participating at meetings at a reasonable time is the prime requirement. From the perspective of the unions, refusing to attend a meeting whilst setting no future date on which it is to be held  appears to constitute not postponement but cancellation. We look  forward the the UniSA EB Management Team response.

University of Adelaide

University of Adelaide have applied to Fair Work Australia to assist with EB negotiations.    There will be Conference, in Chambers, before Senior Deputy President of Fair Work Australia on Wednesday 30 September.    The unions will continue to bargain for the restoration of the conditions we had prior to the HEWRRs conditions that were imposed on us.  The provisions that protected university staff were removed from our Agreements under the Howard Government's Higher Education Workplace Relations Requirements (HEWRRs).  With HEWRRs being abolished 12 months ago there is no reason or justification for any university not to reinstate the pre-HEWRRs  standards in new and improved collective agreements.  University management seem not to realise that we did have an election and that HEWRRs is dead.  Negotiations are proceeding with accelerated meetings taking place.  There is an all day meeting scheduled for 29 September and another meeting to be held on the morning of the scheduled conference in chambers on 30 September.  Together with the Bargaining Team meetings there is a huge amount of work at separate  drafting meetings to draft the detail of clauses in the agreement to bring together the agreed clauses to the Bargaining meetings.

Flinders University of South Australia

Flinders University is making good progress towards an agreement with a few sticking points - salary being one. Negotiations are continuing.
CPSU have not applied for a ballot to take protected industrial action at Flinders University.  The decision to take protected industrial action will be decided separately at each university.  However, CPSU members are asked not to pick up the duties that are part of bans by any other union.  

25 September 2009