TAFE Support Staff Enterprise Agreement 2015 – VOTE NO!

TAFE Support Staff enterprise agreement 2015 – VOTE NO! (PDF version)

TAFE NSW – PSA(CPSU) rejects their proposed agreement

Negotiations with TAFE NSW for a new enterprise agreement have reached an impasse with TAFE insisting on putting the draft agreement out to vote.

The PSA(CPSU) cannot support their proposed agreement for a wide range of reasons.

We have participated in good faith with TAFE NSW’s attempt to develop a new classification system, however the classification system has only been recently finalised and remains untested.

The union does not know the full extent of the impact of the new classification system on members. As TAFE NSW employees, you do not know how the new classification system will affect you prior to voting on it.

There is no rational or acceptable argument which says that the lowest paid workers across TAFE NSW, the administrative, support and technical staff, should face the harshest cuts to conditions and wages out of all TAFE NSW employees. While we accept that the enterprise agreement should be modernised and made easier for staff to use, these changes should not be at the cost of fundamental wages and conditions.

TAFE NSW has cut over 1,200 administrative, technical and support staff in recent years and now they want to cut wages and conditions for those staff who remain.

The union has evaluated a small number of current classifications under the proposed system. Our initial evaluation shows the following:

  • Technical Officer Scientific (Grade 1-3) will go from $76,391 per year to $56,087 – a loss of $20,000
  • Technical Officer Engineering (Grade 1-3) will go from $77,045 per year to $56,087– a loss of $21,000
  • Clerk 7/8 will go from $95,050 per year to $70,275 – a loss of $25,000
  • Clerk 5/6 will go from $83,371 per year to $62,782 – a loss of $15,000
  • Clerk 3/4 will go from $77,942 per year to $56,087 – a loss of $21,000

We are continuing to review other positions to assess how the translation will impact staff. The union requested that TAFE NSW provide a salary guarantee to staff who transfer to the new system, but TAFE NSW refused. For these reasons the PSA(CPSU) has not agreed to the introduction of the proposed new classification system.

Vote NO!

TAFE NSW claims that staff will have a ‘choice’ whether they want to accept a reduced salary for the same job, possibly part year, possibly with broken shifts “mutually agreed”. However, TAFE NSW confirmed that this is misleading as staff will be forced to accept these reduced wages and conditions (including being forced to agree to broken shifts) or face losing employment completely through restructures. When staff are subject to another round of restructures after 1 January 2016 the mirage of ‘choice’ disappears.

The only “choice” that TAFE NSW is proposing to give employees, is to “choose to keep being employed” by TAFE NSW with slashed wages & conditions, or to lose your job completely.

Vote NO!

The reduction in conditions TAFE NSW wants you to agree to are:

  • Less access to overtime
  • Cuts to penalty rates
  • Unpaid extra hours worked by shift workers
  • Removal of Rostered Days Off for shift workers
  • Part Year Employment for ANY employee, no secured minimum number of weeks (36 weeks in policy only, can be changed at any time)
  • Increase weekly hours from 35 to 36.25, most for less money, for 80 percent of staff
  • No guarantee that current salaries will be maintained

To help force TAFE NSW back to the table to actually negotiate a new enterprise agreement, Vote NO to these cuts to your wages and conditions!

Are you interested in getting involved?

Please contact the PSA(CPSU) if:

  • you can talk to your colleagues about what’s happening in enterprise bargaining
  • support the campaign to protect the pay & conditions of TAFE Education and Support Staff.

You can contact us at or by calling 1300 772 679