After strong industrial action taken by NTEU members last week, the University of Melbourne management today tabled an offer in collective bargaining negotiations.
While it ranged across many of the issues which the NTEU has raised in negotiations, the main elements of their offer are:
Salary offer:
12% (including the 2% already paid from April 2009), with the last instalment of 3% on 31 March 2012;
plus
3 x 1% increases (in March 2011 and March 2012), each contingent on completion and implementation by those dates of various reviews of classifications and performance review processes.
(compare this to 16% at Deakin, 16.5% at Monash, 17% at Sydney Uni, all with no “contingent” component)
Concessions to the Union’s claims:
- separate payment for all casual marking outside the contact hour;
- 9% superannuation for all casuals (at the moment only the more regular casuals receive 9%);
- Increased job security and superannuation for fixed term research academics (still considering their position about research professional staff);
- Restoration of some, but not all of, the protections against the misuse of fixed term employment that were abolished under WorkChoices;
- Right for all staff to payment of pro-rata long service leave on termination after 7 years (instead of current 10 years);
- Right for staff to get off AWAs and back onto the collective agreement;
- Classification standards put back into the Agreement instead of being in University policy;
- Improved definitions of lecture and tutorial to ensure proper payment for sessional lecturing work.
Concessions the University wants:
- capacity to direct staff to take annual leave during periods of University close down;
- retention of greater managerial prerogative bestowed by Howard government policies in relation to matters such as changes to employment policies and appointment by management, instead of by agreement, of “independent” chairs for discipline appeals committees;
- expanded span of ordinary hours for sports centre staff;
- retention of contentious “flexible week” arrangements for professional staff, where Saturdays or Sundays can be substituted for a week day;
- significantly expanding the range of staff on “performance based contracts”;
- a longer agreement, running to late 2012 (instead of June 2012 which would bring us into line with most universities), thus delaying the date of the next round of wage negotiations;
- a comprehensive review of the academic and professional staff classification structures linking incremental progression to “rewarding of high performance”;
- refusing to restore the full award protections against misuse of fixed term contracts which were stripped away by Howard government policies.
In relation to the biggest issue in bargaining this year – job security and change management – the University is seeking an Agreement containing only broad commitments qualified by words such as “The University reserves the right to make adjustments to staffing in areas where restructuring is required”.
In the context of what remains a traumatic year for many staff – with ERP, RDM and other random acts of managerialism – it is disappointing that University management has failed to offer any meaningful undertakings about job security once the current processes are over, or to put forward a salary offer which will see Melbourne University maintain “realistic and competitive” salaries for the staff who have been put through all this upheaval.
There is much detail in what the University has proposed – including on issues such as workload management, Indigenous employment, encouraging early career academics, performance management and research misconduct – which the Union will be examining in detail before responding to management at the next bargaining meeting scheduled for October 6th.
While the University management have made some important concessions in this latest document, it is not yet good enough to form the basis for a new Agreement.
The Union will continue to consult with members on our bargaining position, and a members meeting will be called in the week of Sept 28th to report on bargaining developments in more detail and decide on the next steps. Details of date, time and venue will be circulated soon.
The NTEU is in opposition to any reduction in jobs at the University.