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University of Sydney Enterprise Bargaining update

University of Sydney Enterprise Bargaining update – August 2017 (PDF version)

On 14 August, the university met with the CPSU NSW bargaining team to deliver its wage offer.

The package the university has offered is:

• wage increases of 2.1 per cent per annum, commencing on 1 July 2018 with subsequent 2.1 per cent increases on 1 July 2019, 1 July 2020 and 1 July 2021
• a one-off, sign-on payment of $500 for continuing and fixed-term staff employed at the time the agreement is approved by the Fair Work Commission (part-time staff will receive a pro-rata payment)
• an extension of the 22 weeks’ enhanced maternity leave to primary care givers’ leave, with a corresponding reduction in the requalification period from two years to one year for repeated access to the 22 weeks
• an extension of 17 per cent superannuation to fixed-term staff (implemented incrementally over the life of the agreement)
  • increase to 12.5 per cent in 2018
  • increase to 14.5 per cent in 2019
  • increase to 15.5 per cent in 2020
  • from 2021: 17 per cent
• An annual payment for regular and systematic casual staff of four hours per annum, to assist them to stay up to date with university policy and procedure.

The university has advised the union the total cost of the financial package is $385 million over the life of the four-year agreement.

Your CPSU NSW bargaining team will be meeting with the university again this morning to provide an initial response. We are seeking to ensure your conditions and entitlements are maintained and improved, and that any pay rises are in line with CPI and cost of living in Sydney. To ensure that our most vulnerable staff can continue to afford to live in Australia’s most expensive city, CPSU NSW is proposing an alternative model that would see a combination of percentage increases and flat-rate salary top ups.

Members’s meeting

The CPSU NSW University of Sydney team urges all members to attend an important meeting to discuss the progress of bargaining, including the university’s wage offer. This will be your opportunity to ask questions of your bargaining team, and for us to take direction from you as to how we will respond.

Meeting details

• Friday, 18 August

• 1pm-2pm

• Education Seminar Room 325 (3rd floor of the Education Building, next to Manning House, just down the hill a bit!)

After meeting with the CPSU NSW today the university is not willing to move on their offer at all.