The University of New South Wales is one of Australia’s most prestigious Universities. This is mostly due to the excellent contribution of its academic, technical and professional staff staff to teaching and research.

Those staff are angry with UNSW management about how long it is taking to negotiate a new collective workplace agreement. All universities that have made agreements on staff conditions so far, have reinstated fair limits on the use of fixed-term staff, and significantly improved pay and conditions for all staff, including casuals. UNSW Management, in contrast, is proposing an agreement which would degrade the quality of its education and research by allowing the unlimited use of fixed-term and casual employment. Fixed-term staff numbers have already grown by 36% in the last four years.

In proposing this, UNSW is seeking to set aside basic award conditions, and retain draconian industrial arrangements introduced by the previous Federal government of John Howard, which have now been abolished. Moreover, it is doing so alone – all of Australia’s other top Universities are taking a different course, and reaching fair agreements with the unions who represent their staff.

If UNSW is the only university unwilling to provide job security, and UNSW trails its competitors in other work conditions, its chances of attracting quality staff and maintaining its academic profile will be threatened.

This is why UNSW staff have now taken the unprecedented step of imposing bans on student results.

This is why senior staff of the University have written to the Vice-Chancellor urging him to break the deadlock.

UNSW staff are committed to delivering excellence in research, teaching and professional administration. All we ask is that our workplace conditions support this.

NTEU MEMBERS AT UNSW KENSINGTON CAMPUS VOTE TO STRIKE IN SESSION 1 FOR NEW AGREEMENTS

The NTEU bargaining team has repeatedly requested longer and more frequent bargaining sessions with management and these requests have been refused.

 Members authorised the branch committee to write to management requesting intensive bargaining and a commitment to reaching agreements by the end of April 2010. Failure to reach agreement on any key claims after 11 months of bargaining has left NTEU members with no alternative but to take action.

Management have demonstrated a lack of commitment to bargaining to date this behaviour follows statements to staff by the VC that he would be happy simply to roll over the current agreements. Susan Price NTEU UNSW Branch President said “University Management appear to be dragging this round of bargaining out as long as possible to save money. By not committing to proper pay rises and restoring and improving conditions they are condemning staff to enterprise agreements forged under Howard’s IR laws.”

DOWNLOAD THE LATEST UNSW BARGAINING BULLETIN

Late last year the NTEU and the ANU concluded probably our best collective enterprise agreement to date which contained many new and improved employment conditions. Due to budgetary uncertainties, however, it included only one salary increase of 4.5% and so was deliberately negotiated as an interim one year agreement, which expired on 30 June 2009.

The ANU NTEU Branch has recently begun bargaining for a new three-year agreement to settle outstanding matters from the interim agreement, including further salary increases, and new matters arising from changes to the Fair Work legislation.

The Branch has compiled a log of claims consistent with the agreed outstanding issues. You can see the draft Log of Claims here.