As members will be aware, Charles Sturt University has proposed a new 4.75 year enterprise agreement.
Key features of the agreement include:
Year 1 – a salary uplift of $500 across all classification and hierarchal levels, plus a two per cent salary increase
Year 2 – a 1.8 per cent salary increase
Year 3 – a 1.8 per cent salary increase
Year 4 – a salary uplift of $500 across all classification and hierarchal levels, plus a 2.1 per cent salary increase
In addition, please note the following new aspects of the salary offer (subject to staff voting in favour of the new EA):
The package of employment conditions offered by CSU certainly improves on the current agreement and maintains the university’s standing as an employer of choice in regional NSW.
Unfortunately the pay offer is somewhat below the two per cent per annum across the board minimum the bargaining team set as a bottom line and, as such, we cannot endorse it.
Recent inflation figures show the Consumer Price Index tracking at 2.1 per cent, with basic necessities such as electricity (increases of up to 20 per cent year on year), health care (up 3.4 per cent), education (up 2.7 per cent), fuel (up 6.9 per cent) all putting pressure on household incomes.
While we appreciate that CSU, as with the rest of the sector, is under considerable financial pressure (due principally to the LNP’s funding freeze), the university’s pay offer places it at the lower end of outcomes across the sector. Click HERE for further detail.
As a democratic union, we let our members decide whether to endorse of reject any settlement offer made by an employer during a bargaining process.
If a majority of members vote YES to endorse the package, we’ll advise CSU accordingly and campaign in favour of the agreement when it’s put to a ballot of all staff.
If a majority vote NO to reject the offer, then we’ll advise the CSU the agreement doesn’t have the CPSU NSW’s support.
For those members who intend to vote NO and reject CSU’s offer, we’re also asking you to indicate whether you’ll support taking industrial action (such as going on strike).
We believe that after nearly two years of negotiation the only way we’re likely to improve the outcome is if members are prepared to take action. We have discussed this possibility with the NTEU which has advised us it remains open to this course of action.
Click HERE to access our confidential member only poll: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CSUEBAOFFER
The poll closes at 12:00pm on Thursday, 2 August 2018.
United we Bargain, Divided we Beg!!