Issue No 32 | 24 September 1999 | |
NewsAcademics Fail Non-Union Deal
In a warning to tertiary institutions looking to bypass trade unions, University of New South Wales academics have voted overwhelmingly to reject a non-union enterprise deal.
At the conclusion of the ballot count, 1,210 (74%) of eligible academic staff voted against the management proposal while only 423 (26%) voted for it. Some 60% of all eligible staff voted in the ballot. The University management had offered a 7.2% pay rise over two and a half years. The members of the National Tertiary Education Union had previously rejected this offer. "The academic staff have clearly rejected the Vice-Chancellor's divisive and negative strategy, Dr Rae Frances, President of the UNSW Branch of the NTEU, says. "Professor Niland should accept the clear view expressed by UNSW academic staff that any agreement should be negotiated with the NTEU and must deliver an acceptable salary rise, job security and protection of our working conditions" she says. NTEU General Secretary, Grahame McCulloch, has welcomed the result as a decisive vote of support for the NTEU�s national bargaining approach. "Professor Niland has completely misjudged the feelings of his staff." "This result sends an important message to Vice-Chancellors around the country," McCulloch says. "We know that many Vice-Chancellors have been waiting for the outcome of this ballot." "The message for them is to get on with the negotiations and deal with their staff in a constructive way." The NTEU now expects to reach agreement at a number of universities within weeks. Negotiations at UNSW resumed this week.
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Interview: His Daily Fix Graham Richardson talks of his transition from national politics to talkback radio and his ongoing jobs as a fixer. Politics: Requiem to the Third Way The swing to Labor in Victoria shows clearly that once again Australian voters have rejected economic rationalism. The result, and the reasons for it, should worry John Howard. International: A Common Struggle for Freedom It may not get the headlines, but Western Sahara has some chilling similarities with East Timor. Unions: Woolscour Workers say No to Peter Reith Workers at Canobolas Wooltopping - a woolscour plant near Orange, in central west New South Wales, have just sent a message to Workplace Relations Minister Peter Reith: thanks, but no thanks. Legal: Outlawed Acts of Consicence The recent boycotts in support of East Timorese indepndence highlights the extremism of Reith's second wave. History: Was Manning Clark A True Believer A Canberra history conference shines the spotlight on Australia's most famous historian. Review: Paranoid Echoes The calls to examine the Australian�Soviet documents in the Moscow Literary archives have grown in volume over the past year. Labour Review: What's New at the Information Centre The latest issue of Labour Review - a resource for officals and students. Satire: Kennett Boosts Chances: Two More Independents Dead Caretaker Premier Jeff Kennett today admitted that voters perceived him as arrogant and out of touch, but insisted that they were wrong.
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