Griffith staff split in EBA vote, academics reject offer while other staff support new agreement

After Griffith University cut the National Tertiary Education Union out of their latest offer, staff voted on it over four days. One group supported it, while the other dug their heels in.

Griffith University’s Gold Coast Campus. Photo: Richard Gosling.

Griffith University staff have split allegiances in ongoing EBA negotiations, with academic staff supporting the union and other employees siding with the university.

The university cut the National Tertiary Education Union out of their latest EBA offer, instead putting it directly to a staff vote.

Griffith executives were frustrated by the NTEU, saying staff wanted to get a new agreement finalised quickly and the university believed cutting the union out was the answer.

However, following the results of the staff vote which closed on Monday evening after four days, Griffith will re-engage with the union after academic staff dug their heels in.

Griffith’s current EBA offer includes a 10 per cent pay rise until October 2024. The university also offered a $1000 bonus if their offer was voted in – which the union labelled “a bribe”.

In the ballot on December 9-12, more than 60 per cent of academic staff voted down the university’s latest EBA offer.

However, more than 65 per cent of the university’s other professional and support staff voted in favour of the same offer.

Griffith Vice Chancellor Professor Carolyn Evans said the bonus payment would be paid by the end of January and the deal would be sent for Fair Work Commission approval.

She said university executives would resume talks with academic staff.

“We will now recommence negotiations with the NTEU on the benefits and conditions of the academic staff agreement,” Professor Evans said.

“We will also continue to engage with academic colleagues to help determine which elements of the agreement you have the most significant concerns about.”

NTEU state secretary Michael McNally said the union would continue to support professional and support staff.

“While I’m deeply disappointed the non-union agreement presented to professional staff was accepted, I also understand the extreme financial pressure many lower-paid professional staff are facing due to inflation,” he said.

He congratulated academic staff for their vote against the latest offer.

“Taking advantage of tough times by trying to shove a substandard offer down the throats of academic staff just before Christmas is wrong. This move deserved to go down in flames,” Mr McNally said.

“Despite this the NTEU will now seek to engage constructively with management to negotiate a fair and reasonable union deal for academics at Griffith University.”

NTEU Queensland Division Secretary Michael McNally. Photo: Wesley Monts.

Griffith is one of five universities embroiled in EBA negotiations in recent months, with talks prompting mass industrial action in October and further strikes last month.

QUT staff have reached an in-principle agreement and hope to finalise the deal this month.

The current offer includes a 12 per cent pay rise through to December 2024.

“QUT is converting long-term casuals into ongoing staff, improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment, and trying innovative approaches to manage staff workloads,” Mr McNally said.

Meanwhile, negotiations will continue at James Cook University next year.

A pay offer is yet to be put forward, but the university is adamant it will come later.

“Some of the proposals that have been put forward by the NTEU are of significant costs, in addition to their multiple pay claims, and we must consider the financial impact within the broader context of agreed provisions,” a JCU spokesman said.

A central issue is academic freedom, after Professor Peter Ridd was fired by JCU in 2018 over critical comments about scientific colleagues.

At UQ, money is not the issue with a 14 per cent pay increase offered, but concerns remain over the number of employees on casual agreements.

Meanwhile, Central Queensland University will continue talks next year, hoping to finalise negotiations in February. The main sticking point is a perceived low pay offer.