CPSU and UNSW General Staff Vindicated!

This morning the full bench of Fair Work Australia (FWA) has unanimously dismissed the appeal made by the academics union (NTEU) against the decision by FWA Vice President Lawler on 16^th December 2010 approving the UNSW (Professional Staff) Enterprise Agreement 2010.

You will recall that the UNSW Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) General Staff Union Bargaining Team had, after extensive consultations, advised UNSW staff that the Agreement represented the best outcome and recommended a yes vote in the staff ballot. Staff will also remember that the academic’s union fought a very aggressive tooth and nail vote no campaign.

The result - UNSW General Staff voted overwhelmingly to approve the Agreement by a large margin.

Once the Agreement had been approved by general staff the academics union then undertook a legal challenge to the legitimacy of the Agreement, the legitimacy of the voting process and the overall benefits of the Agreement. In approving the Agreement in December 2010 VP Lawler found that the arguments the academics union made that staff would be worse off under the new Agreement were without basis, some points were dismissed as “without merit” and others dismissed as “unmeritorious technical arguments”.

Having lost the debate, lost the ballot and lost the legal argument the academic’s union then appealed the decision to the FWA Full Bench which has now comprehensively rebutted and dismissed the appeal.

We wish to thank all staff for your involvement, ideas and suggestions during the bargaining process and for your support and patience during the drawn out legal hearings. It matters not if you voted yes or no – what matters is that you exercised your rights and participated in the democratic process that decides your and every other staff member’s rights, entitlements and remuneration. We are the union for all General Staff.

The decision today is a vindication not just for the right of the general staff at UNSW to negotiate our own Enterprise Agreement; it’s a vindication of the hard work and integrity of the CPSU General Staff Union Bargaining Team, and a vindication of the CPSU - the Voice of General Staff at UNSW.

If you recognise the need to have a strong General Staff Union on your side, if you want to keep the voice of General Staff within the UNSW strong – then join the CPSU – The General Staff Union.

Join the General Staff Union online!

The full decision can be found at:

http://www.fwa.gov.au/decisionssigned/html/2011fwafb5163.htm