Swinburne Looks Set to be 1st to Conclude New Enterprise Agreement in Victoria
12 May 2004
The NTEU and Swinburne University expect to conclude negotiations on a Heads of Agreement on 12 May, laying the foundations for a new Enterprise Agreement, NTEU Victorian Division Secretary Matthew McGowan said yesterday.
“Assuming final agreement is reached, Swinburne will become the first university in Victoria, and the fourth in Australia, to set in place a new Enterprise Agreement covering the next three years,” Mr McGowan said.
Highlights of the proposed Agreement are:
Pay: 15% salary increase over three years (compounded to 15.76%), the first 5% payable from 1 April 2004, then two further payments of 5% on 1 April over the next two years.
Additionally, two bonus payments are possible during the life of the agreement, payable on the achievement of targets in relation to fee-paying student numbers. If those targets are achieved, a supplementary increase in pay rates will be implemented at the end of the agreement, 30 June 2006.
Workloads: The parties have agreed to impose numerical caps on academic and general staff workloads, and numbers of academic sessional staff.
Parental Leave: Maternity Leave will now be available at 14 weeks at full pay and 38 weeks at 60% pay, and a further unpaid year of child carer’s leave also available. Pro-rata entitlements will be available to part-time staff.
This sets a new standard for family-friendly policies on parental leave, and the NTEU expects to achieve the same or similar outcomes at other Victorian universities.
“It’s a salutary lesson for the other universities that won’t finalise agreements. Our members at RMIT, the University of Melbourne and Victoria University of Technology are being forced to take industrial action to protest at the lack of progress at those institutions,” Mr McGowan said.
“It’s hoped that these and the other Victorian universities, most of which are financially better off than Swinburne and better placed to finalise new agreements, take heed of the Swinburne outcomes and move quickly to also finalise negotiations.”
For further information and comment: Matthew McGowan 0417 054 110