Sue Bull, Geelong
On July 5, unionists at the University of Ballarat voted to accept a new collective agreement. The agreement is the result of a long fight led by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) against the university and the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association (AHEIA).
The agreement delivers an 18% pay rise over two-and-a-half years, a sign-on bonus (for back pay) and 26 weeks' fully paid maternity leave. In addition, the new agreement will protect core rights and conditions eroded by recent government legislation and provide for appeal and review rights in disciplinary proceedings. New staff can also choose between signing an individual contract (AWA) or a collective agreement.
The long-running battle, in which unions defeated two ballots for non-union agreements late last year and then weathered the storm of AWAs being offered, was resolved after the vice-chancellor and head of the AHEIA left for Edith Cowan University in WA. According to NTEU Victorian division secretary Matthew McGowan, "The university management, after initially pursuing an aggressive AWA course, realised the importance of dealing fairly with staff".
Management's efforts to sign staff up to AWAs prompted NTEU branch president Jeremy Smith to initiate a class action against the university alleging that staff were misled. Commenting on the new collective agreement, Smith told 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly that the outcome demonstrates why staff are members of the union and why collective bargaining is so important for working people. "It will protect staff from the worst excesses of the government's new IR laws, and is a slap in the face for the government's claim that employees will be better off under individual contracts."
Smith observed that last year's take up of AWAs was the result of staff being led to believe that this would be the only way they would get a pay rise and back pay. Many who reluctantly took the AWAs were close to retirement or considering leaving the university. Others were uncertain about whether a collective agreement would be won.
"With this agreement we've proved that staff were misled. For that reason we will continue the court case and start a campaign to compel the university to allow people to return to this collective agreement", Smith said. The University of Ballarat has responded by indicating that staff on AWAs will also benefit from the improved conditions available in the collective agreement.
[For news about the Ballarat NTEU's campaign against AWAs visit .]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, July 19, 2006.
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