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Union Members Denied Voice in Bargaining
On Thursday UOW staff received an email from the Vice-Chancellor that announced a ballot for the approval of an Enterprise Agreement for all general staff. What the email did not say is that, despite the NTEU being involved in negotiations for over two years, the decision to put the draft Agreement out for vote was made without consultation with us. We were made aware of the process only when our General Staff Delegate, Karen Ford, received a call from Personnel approximately half an hour before the email was sent.
This move by management is provocative in the extreme. We have continued to attend bargaining sessions in good faith and have continued to push the claims that NTEU members adopted at the commencement of bargaining. This move, in affect, silences the voices and views of NTEU members in concluding an Agreement for your pay and conditions.
We are examining the proposed agreement, including how it compares to other universities, and will update staff soon. However, we can say now that there are some key deficiencies in what management is asking general staff to accept:
* the pay offer would make general staff at UOW amongst the lowest paid in NSW;
* the agreement would expire in early 2014, long after other universities will have commenced bargaining again, putting UOW even further behind;
* without limits on fixed-term employment, there is no guaranteed job security;
* your rights to be represented by your Union on committees affecting your employment are reduced.
Please bookmark the Branch website as we will be updating it regularly.
In union,
Penney McFarlane
NTEU Branch President
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