Murdoch University in bid to cut wages of academic and general staff

The university has applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate the agreement, which would force staff on to the far less generous modern award.

National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) WA secretary Gabe Gooding blasted the move, which she said showed a complete lack of respect for dedicated employees.

“This application is expressly about removing hard-won conditions that management don’t want,” she said.

“The NTEU has been negotiating a new enterprise agreement since April but the university has taken an aggressive stance, demanding wide and deep cuts to staff working conditions while pursuing costly and time-consuming legal avenues.

“Consequently union members took protected industrial action last Wednesday.

“Management immediately filed for conciliation listed for this coming Friday but before this could occur, sought to terminate the current enterprise agreement.”

In a statement an official for the university said the university had met with the NTEU 25 times in the past seven months but had made little progress on a new enterprise agreement.

The official said once the university was advised of union members’ intent to take protected industrial action on December 1, it made an application to the Fair Work Commission for an urgent conference on December 2 but the NTEU was unavailable to attend.

University Provost Andrew Taggart said the termination application would allow the parties to move past the current impasse and focus on the future of the university.

“We are committed to making a new agreement which is seen as a fundamental element in moving to a successful and sustainable university,” he said.

For the university to be successful in the evolving higher education environment it required employment conditions that provide for flexibility and agility to take advantage of new opportunities.

The NTEU has organised an open public rally on Wednesday at 12.30pm at Murdoch University.