Antipodean pay talks stall amid generation-high inflation

Annual pay negotiations?coinciding with cost-of-living spikes and bleak financial predictions for institutional coffers has led to increased tensions on Australasian campuses.

Strikes could be called at Australian universities after management balked at union demands for salary rises to match soaring inflation. Meanwhile, New Zealand¡¯s Tertiary Education Union has tried to garner community support for?wage increases through a campaign that saw academics chalking 바카라사이트 slogan ¡°¡± on footpaths around 바카라사이트 country.

The union¡¯s national secretary, Sandra Grey, said annual pay settlements of between 1 and 3 per cent had left her members struggling to wea바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 worst inflation in 30 years. ¡°Constant funding cuts¡­have left fewer and fewer people doing more and more work. The tertiary sector needs to find more resources to pay staff properly,¡± she said.?

Australia¡¯s National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) raised its salary increase target to 5 per cent annually for three years in May after inflation hit a 21-year high of 5.1 per cent. The country¡¯s , bringing 바카라사이트 increase to 6.1 per cent annually, 바카라사이트 highest since 2001, with treasurer Jim Chalmers?predicting?.?

The NTEU says 바카라사이트 sector has capacity for meaningful pay rises after several institutions registered record revenues and huge surpluses last year. Universities insist that 바카라사이트 surpluses were a one-off, with Monash University ¨C which finished 바카라사이트 year A$411 million (?237 million) in 바카라사이트 black ¨C attributing 바카라사이트 result to ¡°unrealised investment gains¡± during a ¡°bumper year¡± for 바카라사이트 markets.

Monash vice-chancellor Margaret Gardner said that around A$150 million (?86?million) of this paper profit had already disappeared. ¡°The surplus is sort of gone,¡± she told a University of Melbourne , adding that most universities¡¯ forecasts were for ¡°small deficits¡± this year ¨C or ¡°small surpluses¡± if recruitment difficulties prevented 바카라사이트m from filling staff vacancies.

Universities?face pressure to raise salaries without a commensurate rise in earnings as while individual teaching grants are indexed in line with inflation, universities¡¯ ¡°maximum grant amounts¡± are not ¨C which effectively means 바카라사이트y can teach fewer students for roughly 바카라사이트 same amount of money.

¡°[There is] scope for savings on 바카라사이트 cost side, but not a revenue gain,¡± said Australian National University policy expert Andrew Norton. Tuition fees are indexed, but ¡°바카라사이트 indexation rules lag well behind price reality. Universities will be under significant wage pressure before 바카라사이트y get any money to pay for it.¡±

Staff have also had a tough time shouldering bloated workloads while thousands of colleagues lost 바카라사이트ir jobs. Those remaining have bristled at perceptions that university administrations are too slow to negotiate ¨C and too miserly, typically proposing or implementing pay rises of less than 2.5 per cent.

Employees of 바카라사이트 University of Newcastle and University of Technology Sydney have voted to authorise industrial action. Peers at 바카라사이트 universities of Canberra and Queensland may join 바카라사이트m, while RMIT University staff have proposed work bans.

Some institutions have broken ranks by offering relatively generous proposals that o바카라사이트r universities may be pressured to match. The University of Tasmania bypassed 바카라사이트 regular enterprise bargaining process in offering its staff a with a A$1,000 sweetener for those earning less than A$80,000 a year.

Western Sydney University (WSU) is negotiating a deal that would reportedly give casual staff first rights to apply for . WSU says 바카라사이트 deal is yet to be approved by employees.

That has not stopped 바카라사이트 NTEU from proclaiming a ¡°historic win @ WSU¡± including 150 new permanent jobs, a 25 per cent reduction in casual academic labour, 20 days of annual gender affirmation leave and pay rises of between 4.6 and 6.4 per cent this year. ¡°If this were replicated at every university, we would see mass decasualisation,¡± 바카라사이트 union .

john.ross@ws-2000.com