Gearing up for the next bargaining round

Michael Evans, National Organiser (Media & Engagement)

NTEU National Councillors met online in December 2020 for a Bargaining Conference and Special National Council, to start preparations for the next round of enterprise bargaining. This next round will commence in the first half of this year and will be progressively rolled out over the coming 12 months, as current university enterprise agreements reach their expiry.

Key issues

The key issues that National Councillors agreed to focus on this bargaining round include:

• Improving job security and addressing some of the worst aspects of insecure employment.

• Measures to limit work intensification.

• Real targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and the Indigenisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services.

• Greater protections for academic freedom.

• A modest pay rise.

• Local claims around issues that are deeply felt across staff at a particular institution.

This is likely to be a difficult bargaining round following the COVID-19 crisis, and if we are to achieve positive outcomes we will need to build our workplace strength by engaging with colleagues and friends who aren’t union members and encouraging them to join and get involved.

Good outcomes are unlikely to be achieved just by the force of argument across the negotiating table. It needs to be supported by as many staff as possible demonstrating to management that there is widespread support for our claims.

Political campaign adds another dimension

Following the harrowing experiences of universities dealing with the COVID-19 crisis in the wake of an uncaring Federal Government, National Councillors agreed on the need for an ongoing political campaign integrated with bargaining, to achieve NTEU’s vision for a higher education sector embedding equity of access, quality education and research outcomes, and protecting academic freedom.

The Morrison Government repeatedly blocked universities from accessing JobKeeper and provided no emergency or relief funding, despite a revenue shortfall of $1.8 billion and over 17,300 jobs lost from the sector in 2020.

It also introduced a new funding regime that more than doubled the cost of some courses, especially in Humanities, and reduced overall funding by $1 billion.

National Councillors agreed that the focus of the Union’s political work should be to gain support in the community, amongst political parties and amongst individual parliamentary candidates for NTEU’s vision for the higher education sector in the lead-up to the next federal election, due sometime between May 2021 and August 2022.

This will include a range of initiatives and activities aimed at engaging with members, other university staff, students and community organisations, amongst others, around developing the demands we need to make to achieve our vision for higher education.

Watch out for further details about what’s happening and how you can get involved. ◆