BARGAINING
AT UON
Bargaining is one of our biggest opportunities to secure better workplaces and a better university.
Being an NTEU member means standing together with our colleagues to protect and extend our working conditions at the University of Newcastle (UoN). One of the ways we do this is by campaigning for improvements during Enterprise Bargaining negotiations.
In 2025 NTEU members successfully pushed back against UoN management’s proposal to defer our right to bargain. In April 2025, NTEU reps commenced bargaining for new Enterprise Agreements (EA).
In June 2026 members voted for a new EA, having secured improvements you can read more about below.
During bargaining we can increase pressure on management and transform this fight for job security into demands for an even stronger Enterprise Agreement.
We should feel empowered to raise our voices for basic assurances, but it's going to take all our voices to ensure we get the change we want to see.
It's more important than ever to join the NTEU! If you're already a member, you can sign up now to be active in our branch work using the form.
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ENTERPRISE BARGAINING OUTCOMES
WHat WE ACHIEVED
2025 was a tough year for UoN. We lost valuable colleagues and endured the stress and uncertainty of restructuring. That made our enterprise bargaining campaign extremely challenging. But despite that, NTEU members were determined to make improvements to workload regulation, job security and pay.
We stood together, taking industrial action, rallying outside NSW parliament and courageously giving evidence at the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into university governance.
Our efforts paid off. We achieved what we hope will be meaningful improvements. But turning improvements on paper into improvements in real life will require us continuing to work together to ensure full implementation and enforcement.
The lesson of 2025 is if we do nothing, we’ll continue to see heartless and irresponsible managerialism eroding the UoN we love. Joining the NTEU makes a real difference. The more of us are in the union, the harder it is for UoN management to ignore us. If you’re reading this, will you join the NTEU and stand with us?
So what did we achieve together?
CLAIM 1: Coverage: There will be a single enterprise agreement covering all University of Newcastle staff.
While management initially agreed to a single agreement to cover all General and Academic staff, they retreated from this under pressure from the CPSU. Given members’ priority was workload regulation and job security, we made a decision not to pursue a single Agreement.
CLAIM 2: Salary Increases: A salary increase for all staff of 20% (flat).
Achieved:
- 15.2 % expiry to expiry (30 April 2025 – 1 September 2029)
- 3.51% p.a.
- 4.33 years
- Back pay to 1 March 2026 if employed when EA is approved
CLAIM 3: Expiry Date: Contingent upon reaching agreement within 9 months of expiry of the current agreement, an expiry date of 1 September 2029.
Achieved.
CLAIM 4.1: Safe Workload: The Agreement will protect professional and academic staff from excessive and unpaid work by: Ensuring professional and academic staff vacancies are filled within 3 months.
We were not able to achieve this claim. Workloads was one of the most contested claims during bargaining. The bargaining team made the decision to prioritise collective workload review
provisions and requirements for transparency in workload weightings and an expectation staff will be reasonably able to deliver teaching in the time allocated.
We did achieve an improvement for professional staff in relation to workplace change requiring management to provide information including: “any impact on staff and their workload in the affected work unit, including (i) any increases to workloads; and (ii) the University’s proposals to mitigate the impact of any increases to workload, including the redistribution of any remaining work from any position to be disestablished.”
CLAIM 4.2 Safe Workload: Requiring that Academic Work Allocation Models be developed and reviewed in collaboration with staff of the College or School, and approved by a majority of staff in a work unit.
- In respect to individual workload allocation the new provisions require staff be informed of the weighting (e.g. points, percentage or (EFTSL)) applied, together with an explanation of factors taken into account to determine the weighting; a statement that the University expects that the Academic Staff member will reasonably be able to deliver the course (in the time allocated), and an Academic Staff member may seek a review by the Review Committee if a workload issue is not resolved by their Head of School.
- The University must make available information to other Academic Staff members regarding the weighting (e.g. points, percentage or (EFTSL)) assigned to a particular course, the factors that have been taken into account in determining that course weighting and a statement that the University expects that the Academic Staff member will reasonably be able to deliver the course (or part allocated to them) in X hours, where X represents the hours allocated for delivery of that
course or the metric under the applicable AWAM. - Schedule 9, clause 1.2 now requires that individual staff members be provided with a breakdown of the hours allocated for the various activities associated with delivery of a course and how the total hours allocated translate to the weighting (e.g. points, percentages or EFTSL) assigned to
that course. The information will also be shared with Academic Staff members in the relevant discipline. - Sch 9, Clause 3.1 now requires publishing and maintaining of AWAMs and associated individual staff work allocations by the 31st of January of the year.
- Sch 9, clause 4 introduces individual and collective review of workload complaints through a panel process that includes a rep chosen by the staff.
CLAIM 4.3 Safe Workload: Ensuring individual academic workloads provide opportunities to conduct research and undertake leadership roles, and that they cannot be varied without mutual agreement.
We were not able to achieve this claim. Workloads was one of the most contested claims during bargaining. The bargaining team made the decision to prioritise collective workload review provisions and requirements for transparency in workload weightings and an expectation staff will be reasonably able to deliver teaching in the time allocated.
CLAIM 5.1 Job Security: The Agreement will strengthen pathways for fixed-term and casual staff to be converted to secure employment.
The current Agreement says: “The application will be considered through a merit-based process….” but has no guidance on what is to be assessed, meaning unreasonable barriers have been used to prevent conversions, e.g. claims of underperformance, claims that a person won’t meet the future needs of the role etc.
The new agreement contains “categories of merit”, which define an “assessment of a staff member’s:
(a) skills and knowledge; (b) competencies; (c) qualifications; (d) leadership capabilities; and (e) previous experience.”
There is also a small improvement to casual conversion provisions in line with the National Employment Standards.
CLAIM 5.2: The Agreement will provide for strengthened job security rights, including: a) Improved consultation clauses; b) Redundancy as a last resort; and c) That no individual be subject to an organisational change process more than once during the life of the Agreement.
- Cl. 47.1 – commits management to explore strategies and consider options other than redundancies. Formerly it was qualified by the words “wherever possible”.
- Sch 12, cl. 3.1, Step 1 – management is required to provide information including: “any impact on staff and their workload in the affected work unit, including (i) any increases to workloads; and (ii) the University’s proposals to mitigate the impact of any increases to workload, including the redistribution of any remaining work from any position to be disestablished.”
CLAIM 6: Casual Equity: Casual employees will be paid 17% super to match the superannuation contribution for non-casual employees.
A Memorandum of Understanding will be exchanged introducing 17% for casual staff from 1 January 2030. While we had hoped to have this new provision commence immediately, it remains an outstanding, first-in-sector achievement that will hopefully pave the way for branches around the country.
CLAIM 7. Union Rights: The Agreement will provide improved union and delegates' rights, including time release for union branch officials and delegates to perform their duties, access to staff email lists, access to staff inductions, and access to at least 10 days of trade union training leave per member each year.
- Delegates rights incorporated in the same terms as the Higher Education Awards.
- Cl. 40.5 now provides that: “Where a workplace delegate has exhausted the entitlement to paid training set out at clause 40.18 of this Agreement, the workplace delegate may request additional time release under this clause 40.5. Requests for time release will be determined by the delegate.”
- A Memorandum of Understanding for 20% Branch President time release to be exchanged.
CLAIM 8. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Staff: The Agreement will strengthen UON’s commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.
UoN flatly refused to consider improvements to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander provisions. Our Agreements already contain strong employment targets. UoN management did indicate they are committed to increasing participation rates through University policy.Our challenge is to strengthen our bargaining position by building membership and engagement to put us in a position to improve enforceability in future bargaining rounds.
CLAIM 9. Compliance Uplift: That the parties audit the Agreement to ensure it is compliant with legislative changes, and exceeds conditions provided in relevant Awards and the NES
Achieved, including compliance with delegates rights, casual conversion, fixed term regulation, and the right to disconnect.
What next?
NTEU members endorsed the new Agreements on July 3. The next step in the process is a vote of all UoN staff. We’ll be voting YES in that ballot and urge you to do likewise.
Then we work together workplace-by-workplace and start ensure we get the full benefit of these new provisions. Join the NTEU today and find out how you can access these provisions in your workplace.
For our non-member colleagues, make sure you join the NTEU to contribute to a strong collective staff voice. Because the more voices we have, the better our chance of winning improvements to our workplaces, which leads to better institutions, better lives for workers and better outcomes for students!
