Staff incensed by UQ management
By Robyn Marshall
BRISBANE — A general meeting of staff at the University of Queensland on February 16 described a management pay offer as inadequate. During resumed enterprise bargaining negotiations on February 15, a 13.6% increase over four years was offered.
The National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) said the offer compared poorly to community standards of pay, failed to give due recognition to the skills, lagged behind pay levels at other leading universities and failed to take account of productivity increases and the likely impact of the GST.
The increases offered are structured in such a way that the costs for the university are no greater than what was in management's previous two offers, which were both resoundingly rejected.
Immediately after the meeting, the senior deputy vice-chancellor Ted Brown e-mailed the entire academic staff, claiming the union had flatly rejected the latest salary offer. "The university negotiating team sees no point in continuing negotiations with the NTEU when they remain wedded to a salary increase that is simply unsustainable without significant redundancies and retrenchments. The provisions of the 1997 enterprise agreement will continue in force", he wrote.
Members are incensed that the management interpreted their motion as rejecting negotiations.