University of Sydney wage dispute
By Tyrion Perkins
SYDNEY — Staff at the University of Sydney are angry and frustrated after eight months of enterprise bargaining negotiations. National Tertiary Education Industry Union (NTEU) members believe that attacks by management are willing compliance with the federal government's lack of funding for higher education.
One particularly galling point is the rumour that the vice-chancellor has been given a 15% pay increase.
Management appears to be deliberately stalling to wear down staff: after months of negotiations, it was revealed that the person bargaining on behalf of management was not authorised to negotiate on certain key points.
In this situation NTEU members took industrial action for the second time this year, holding a half-day strike on June 2. This resulted in management finally making a counter offer. The salary offer has increased from 1.75% per year to 2%, then 2.5% in the next two years, which is unacceptable to staff.
The offer is also unacceptable on employment security, workloads and superannuation. NTEU members have voted to place bans on the processing of examination results and on implementing the Y2K compatible computer system if a settlement is not reached by July 5.