NTEU members at James Cook University met today to commence a campaign against a proposal to vary their Enterprise Agreement to defer a 2% salary increase due this month until 31 December next year.
The proposed Variation, which was not agreed with the unions, was put to staff late Wednesday, with a vote on the Variation as early as Thursday (17/9) and Friday (18/9) next week.
JCU Branch President, Dr Jonathan Strauss said: “We are campaigning against this variation because it doesn’t deliver the job security that has been achieved in similar variations at other universities, and will affect workers’ retirement incomes.”
“Staff are willing to make sacrifices, but they need to know that what is being asked of them is necessary and proportional. James Cook simply hasn’t been as badly affected by the loss of international students as CQU or some of the big metropolitan universities,” Strauss added.
Queensland Division Secretary, Michael McNally, said: “Staff know a rough deal when they see one. Other universities, for example, have maintained superannuation contributions in their variations so that retirement incomes aren’t affected. James Cook management refused.”
“Other Variations have also provided much stronger job security for casual staff and staff on fixed-term contracts, while JCU’s proposal contains nothing for them,” McNally added.
