Since the last bulletin from the CPSU NSW came out, two meetings have occurred in the bargaining process, one on 15 March and one on 29 March. CPSU NSW delegates and officials were present at both.
Much of the discussion at these two meetings overlapped. The reason for this is that when a union proposes changes or additions to the Enterprise Agreement, it generally falls upon that union to present proposed new wording (‘clauses’) to go into the Agreement. This usually will be done at a meeting after the issue was first discussed.
During these two meetings, CPSU NSW discussed and presented clauses on a range of issues:
Change Management: The CPSU NSW is looking for some changes to the Change Management process. Particularly, we are asking for:
a more elaborate definition of what might constitute ‘minor’ change, so that Management will be clearly obliged to consult workers on certain issues, including changes to flex time arrangements,
an obligation on the University to inform relevant Unions that a change process is taking place,
the cap on redundancy payments removed or greatly increased.
Disciplinary processes: On this issue the CPSU NSW is looking for a minor adjustment to improve the clarity of the process. The University seems to be accepting our concerns.
Domestic violence: The CPSU NSW has sought that the amount of leave available to someone experiencing domestic violence be increased from 10 days to 20, and that the standard of proof required to access the leave be decreased. Again, the University seems to be amenable to this.
Parental leave: We are seeking a range of changes to this:
Changing the concept from ‘maternity’ to ‘primary carers’ leave;
a greater quantity of leave for unplanned cessations of pregnancy;
the introduction of paid lactation breaks for returning mothers.
On this subject we have not yet presented a clause, but will do so for the next meeting, which is scheduled to be on 12 April 2018.
Should you have any feedback to give concerning the current Enterprise Bargaining process, feel free to contact either the CPSU UNSW Branch President Alister Wareing at or our CPSU NSW organiser Chris Bird at .
If you are not yet a member of the CPSU NSW, you can join the CPSU NSW by going to www.cpsunsw.org.au.
