The CPSU NSW has received notification that your pay rise will not come in time for Christmas. TAFE NSW has been snubbed by the State Government, having been bumped from the Senior Officials Wages Advisory Committee (SOWAC) agenda in their last meeting of the year.
The role of SOWAC is to ensure that any Enterprise Agreement outcomes are consistent with the Government’s position on wages. When SOWAC approves the pay parameters, they are then provided to the Expenditure Review Committee (ERC) for approval, resulting in a government-approved pay rise parameter for further bargaining.
TAFE being booted from the agenda in the last SOWAC meeting of the year will result in your pay rise is being delayed until next year.
In the last bargaining session on 16 October between TAFE NSW and the CPSU NSW, it was agreed that our membership wouldn’t settle for anything less than what other government departments received, which was a three-year pay deal of 4 per cent, 3 per cent, 3 per cent (plus superannuation and one-off cost of living clauses providing the opportunity for additional payments in 2025 and 2026). The CPSU NSW is also negotiating back pay to the nominal expiry date of your 2024 Enterprise Agreement, 18 September 2024.
TAFE is required to seek final Treasury approval and the union held off putting communications out to members to allow for this to occur. But three months after the last meeting with no action or news, our members are now being asked to wait until 2025!
TAFE staff are undervalued and underpaid, and the NSW Government has shown that tertiary education is clearly not a priority!
Sign up your colleagues to the CPSU NSW; more members mean a louder voice!
If you have any questions, please reach out to your local delegate or CPSU NSW Industrial Staff.
Lisa Nelson Senior Industrial Officer
Michael George Organiser
Click HERE to find your local delegate.