Page 8 - AHEIA Annual Report

ENTERPRISE BARGAINING
The Association was heavily involved in the evolution of a co-ordinated approach to bargaining adopted by the Association’s four member universities in Western Australia which commenced in the second quarter of the year
and continued throughout the year without being nalised. This included the Association being appointed as a bargaining representative for each of the four universities, and assisting those universities at their bargaining tables throughout the year.
The bargaining agenda being pursued
by those four universities had signi cant commonality, and the role of the Association in undertaking a co-ordinating role stemmed from our National Enterprise Bargaining Planning Forum held in November 2015.
The Association was active in assisting
those universities in responding to union misrepresentation of the bargaining position being taken by those universities, applying to the Fair Work Commission for orders in relation to breaches by the NTEU of the good faith bargaining requirements of the Fair Work Act 2009. The Association represented the three universities then engaged in bargaining in proceedings before the Commission, obtaining a nding that those requirements had been breached, notwithstanding the non-issuing
of orders; with that nding being upheld by a Full Bench of the Commission on appeal. This was the rst such proceeding of its kind for the higher education sector, and sets the scene for holding unions to account for how they conduct themselves in bargaining.
The new era of bargaining also saw Murdoch University make application in December
for the termination of its current enterprise agreement, after impasse had been reached in negotiations which had achieved little over eight months of bargaining.
Enterprise bargaining also commenced at another 5 universities during the year and was still at in the early stages at each of those universities at year-end.
The Association conducted a members-
only National Enterprise Bargaining Forum
in November, building on the work of the previous year’s forum. Member university representatives heard presentations from
the University of Canberra in relation to its achievements in successfully negotiating
a new plain-English enterprise agreement which involved signi cant removal of prescription and streamlining of various procedures governed by the agreement,
and from other universities currently engaged in bargaining.
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AHEIA Annual Report 2016