Following intensive bargaining between the NTEU Murdoch Branch Bargaining Team and Murdoch University Management, substantial progress has been made towards the agreement, including the reintroduction of proper regulation for the use of fixed term contracts by the University.

The Bargaining Team has therefore taken the decision to withdraw the proposed industrial action for next Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th February 2010, the first 2 days of the teaching semester.

Following intensive bargaining on December 16, the NTEU and Murdoch University Management reached agreement and have signed a Heads of Agreement. As a consequence of this HoE, the NTEU lifted its industrial action including the ban on the transmission of student results as of close of business on December 16.

The determined and effective action of members who have banned the transmission of results (and all those who have participated in this campaign throughout this year) have achieved significant movement from the University.

Negotiations will continue in the New Year to reach final settlement on new Union Collective Agreements at Murdoch University.

The results ban at Murdoch University is set to hold over Christmas and New Year, following strong support from a meeting of union members at Murdoch today. From next week, graduating students will be included in the many hundreds of exemptions from the ban already approved by the union. Results for exempted students will not be withheld by union members.

The decision was made to continue with the ban after negotiations with University management had not yet produced a satisfactory outcome.

“Management is asking staff to choose between pay and conditions, effectively saying that we can have only one or the other,” said Janice Dudley, NTEU Murdoch Branch President. “It is unfair to ask staff to choose between salary and conditions. As we’ve said all along: Quality staff deserve quality pay and conditions.”

Ms Dudley continued, “Murdoch University is projecting yet another significant surplus in 2010. It is the staff at this university who worked hard to achieve these successes. Why is it unreasonable to ask that some of that surplus go towards giving staff decent pay and conditions?”

The position of Murdoch Management is also out of step with other Western Australian Universities.

“Edith Cowan University has recently signed agreements which ensure reasonable pay rises and improved conditions for staff,” Ms Dudley said. “Murdoch Management is offering to pay salaries comparable with Edith Cowan but only if staff give up important working conditions.”

At Curtin, results bans have been lifted after university management and the unions reached a Heads of Agreement. Murdoch is now the only Western Australian University refusing to meet key union claims.

“Murdoch has world-class staff, who provide students with an excellent education,” said Ms Dudley. “Maintaining  that high quality – attracting new people, replacing departing staff – is going to be difficult when every other local university is offering a better deal for their employees.”