CQU EB consultation underway
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 125 No 7, 2 October 2020, page no.15
The QTU has commenced consultation with members of the TAFE Division employed in the Central Queensland University regarding the development of a log of claims for the forthcoming enterprise bargaining round.
In addition to a series of local branch meetings that were planned in Gladstone, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Mackay, following a review, TAFE Executive recommended that extra whole-of-CQU Zoom meetings be held to facilitate the consultation process.
Subsequently, cross-university Zoom meetings were held by QTU President Kevin Bates and me, as the QTU TAFE Organiser. We took the opportunity to introduce the bargaining process and informed members of the importance of the log of claims.
I conducted the local face-to-face consultation meetings, which were for information gathering. That information is the foundation of the draft log of claims. This includes a strong case that, for attraction and retention purposes alone, CQU VET educator salaries must be on a par with recent TAFE Queensland salaries. Several items will be included that are considered pertinent to the VET context in CQU or are a part of the QTU’s policy positions or campaign commitments.
The relevant timelines for preparation of the CQU enterprise bargaining round are as follows.
- September to mid-October: The collated and further refined draft CQU EB2 log of claims to be circulated to CQU TAFE Division members via a survey to determine priority matters for negotiators.
- Mid to late October: A whole of CQU TAFE Division Zoom meeting will be held to endorse the final draft of the log of claims.
- 14 November: The endorsed final draft of the log of claims will be presented to TAFE Council for formally adoption for CQU EB2.
- 30 March 2021: The last date on which CQU EB negotiations can commence as per clause 3 of the CQU EB “Renegotiation of Agreement”, which states: “The university and the unions covered by this agreement agree that the expeditious negotiation of a replacement agreement is in the interests of the university and staff. To this end, at least three months prior to the nominal expiry date of this agreement, the parties shall provide to the other(s) a bona fide list of variations sought to the terms and conditions in the existing agreement, including pay, proposed to be included in the new agreement.”
- 30 June 2021: The Central Queensland University Certified Agreement 2017 nominally expires, and date of the final two per cent pay increase from the current CQU certified agreement.