Green light for national bargaining in varsities

Green light for national salary bargaining in universities
University staff have voted overwhelmingly to support the negotiation of national collective employment agreements in the 2003 bargaining round. The ballot, conducted on a university-by-university basis, endorsed a recommendation by the Association of University Staff (AUS) to move from enterprise based bargaining at each university campus to the negotiation of one national collective agreement for academic staff and one national collective agreement for general staff.

1216 (86.8%) of the 1402 academic staff who participated in the ballot voted in support of the proposal, and 1165 (85.5%) of the 1362 general staff who participated also voted to support national bargaining.

It means that bargaining with the universities will be initiated by mid-August and it is anticipated that negotiations will commence shortly after then.

AUS National President, Dr Bill Rosenberg, said he was delighted at the result. “The high number of those voting and the high level of support for the proposal give AUS a very clear mandate to enter national bargaining with university employers, and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue with them.

“It also shows that university staff appreciate the very clear link between funding and salary levels, and support the view that the government has a responsibility to significantly increase funding into the sector.”

Dr Rosenberg said he expected university employers to respect the strong wish of staff to bargain on a national basis.

For further information please contact
Dr Bill Rosenberg,
National President, AUS
Phone (03) 364 2801 (work)
(03) 332 8525 (home)
Email bill.rosenberg@canterbury.ac.nz

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