Bargain Hunters: The Curtin NTEU EBA Podcast

In this episode Scott, Ryan, and Francis discuss management's "final" offer, we explain why we haven't accepted management's current offer, and the union's plans for 2023. 

In this episode, Sian, Scott, Ryan, and Francis discuss management's pay offer.  We also discuss management's latest positions on casuals, leave, and the limited service period. 

In this episode Scott and Francis speak to Kelly Thomas, the Director of Legal and Industrial at the NTEU. We discuss the Curtin NTEU's PABO application, Curtin management's objections to this application, and the recent hearing at the Fair Work Commission.  

Scott and Francis discuss the events that have led Curtin NTEU members to direct the branch towards protected industrial action. In particular, we discuss our members' call for improvements with regards to reconciliation, casualisation, workload, and pay. We discuss management's unwillingness to meaningful address these issues.

Francis is joined by NTEU Senior Industrial Officer Wayne Cupido to discuss protected industrial action, and the Protected Action Ballot Order (PABO).  Wayne defines the PABO and explains why we need one, how we get one, and what protected action has looked like in the rest of the Australian higher education sector.

Francis, Scott, and Ryan are joined by Western Sydney University (WSU) NTEU branch president David Burchell, to discuss his branch's success in gainings 150 FTE permanent teaching and research jobs. We discuss how WSU's NTEU branch has significantly reduced WSU's reliance on casuals, along with their newly won pay rises, and the importance of campaigning, industrial action, and rebuilding the university for those who produce it. More about the WSU NTEU branch's achievements can be found here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-02/western-sydney-university-eba-hailed-as-answer-to-insecure-work/101281250 

In this episode, Francis and Scott talk with Max Jackson, a lecturer in the Centre for Aboriginal studies at Curtin. We outline the bargaining team's meeting with management to discuss the NTEU's Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander employment claims, and the importance of championing first nation's voices and culture in the workplace.

In this episode, Scott, Francis, and Vice-President General Staff Sian Flynn discuss the last bargaining meeting, and the proposed tier 1&2 changes. We explain these changes, the points of disagreement between management and the Curtin NTEU bargaining team, and the importance of scrutinising seemingly small changes to wording.  We also discuss management's newly released bargaining position document, and our concerns around management's desire for a more flexible workforce.

In this episode, some members of the bargaining team (Scott Fitzgerald, Ryan Mead-Hunter, and Francis Russell) introduce themselves, discuss the lead up to bargaining, the importance of membership involvement, and outline what is coming in the months ahead.