Joint NTEU – CPSU statement to members – August 2018 (PDF version)
Your unions, the CPSU and NTEU, met yesterday with university management in good faith, seeking to make real progress in Enterprise Bargaining.
Unfortunately, we were presented with a pay offer from university management, contingent upon claims on performance processes, probation, and organisational change, being accepted by unions. This was presented by management as the final pay offer.
Most disturbingly before the presentation was complete and any negotiation had begun, an all-staff email was sent from the HR Director’s office about the pay offer, complete with a link to a pay calculator. The email also suggested we were close to agreement with the “full suite of benefits, both existing and new”, while Unions are still attempting to defend existing conditions, and unsure what the claimed “new” benefits are. Unions expressed their strong disappointment at this conscious undermining of the bargaining process.
Once it was clear there was no intent to negotiate any detail with the unions, we jointly determined there was no value in continuing to participate today, given management was clearly not bargaining in good faith. Unions remain ready to bargain in good faith, and to progress matters toward agreement.
In union,
Associate Professor Tom Griffths
NTEU Newcastle Branch President
Sue Freeman
CPSU Branch President
