UTS Proposed Senior Staff Agreement - Vote No

This bulletin looks at specific clauses in the proposed non-union agreement for senior management at UTS. The reductions in rights and conditions are numerous. The CPSU/PSA recommends an NO vote.

The bulletin is the attached pdf document below the letter and other text

Letter to UTS Senior Staff

Dear UTS Staff member,

Re: Senior Staff Enterprise Agreement

I am writing to you today regarding the ballot for the UTS Senior Staff Agreement, which is being distributed today?

The CPSU is of the view that the proposed agreement contains numerous reductions to Senior Staff/ERS entitlements which you are currently entitled to under the Support Staff and Academic agreements.

The CPSU's experience in the federal public service exposes how non union 170 LK agreements have been introduced to entice staff to take up what seems like a good offer. Future non union enterprise agreements following the initial offer have been less advantageous in their offer to staff. Even the federal government has acknowledged these facts in their own studies. Union negotiated Enterprise Agreements (section 170 LJ) average 1.2% higher salary outcomes than non union agreements (section 170LK). "Trends in Enterprise Bargaining Report", Department of Workplace Relations, June 2003.

The proposed Senior Staff agreement does not have as many benefits as the Support Staff and Academic Agreements, yet has many reductions in relation to your current conditions of employment.

The CPSU is of the view that the proposed agreement contains reductions that outweigh minor benefits. We also believe that if the University value Senior Staff as much as they claim and the agreement gets voted down, the University will offer Senior Staff similar benefits to those found in the proposed agreement without the reductions.

Attached is a summary of the main conditions that will be reduced under the proposed agreement.

CPSU recommends that you vote "NO" to the senior staff agreement, because:

• there are too many reductions to your current entitlements..
• You may not get as good a deal the second time around and you will not have the collective support of the union to negotiate reasonable conditions

Read the previous bulletin on this subject for the general differences between union and non -union agreements. The previous bulletin is UTS trying to get Executives on non-union agreements

Update 11 March: The senior staff which includes unionists and non-unionists, academics and general staff, have voted 90 to 39 to accept the non-union agreement.

Download File:
UTS SENIOR STAFF AGREEMENT [ pdf ]
Contact Details
Shay Deguara, Industrial Officer
Ph:  02 9220 0976
Fax: 02 9262 1623
sdeguara@psa.asn.au