Sector-wide bargaining in the air

In recent weeks, the Federal Government has laid out its plans for changes to the Fair Work Act. Many of these changes will be of real benefit to workers in the post-secondary education sector.

The most significant change is a move towards industry-wide bargaining. Under the current bargaining rules, negotiations for improvements in wages and conditions must be conducted on a workplace-by-workplace basis, which has meant that bigger workplaces, where workers have more capacity to organise, tend to be better off. The coming changes should make industry-wide bargaining (whereby a union can attempt to get improved wages and conditions across a whole sector) much more common.

Other changes being pursued by the Albanese government include moves to make gender equity a key consideration for the Fair Work Commission. Given that women typically earn less than their male counterparts, this may prove to be another element that benefits those in the post-secondary sector.

The government has also flagged greater regulation of the so-called ‘gig’ economy, and some limits on insecure work generally. The post-secondary education sector is heavily reliant on casual workers, and so moves to tighten regulation in this space can only help workers in the industry.

The state of the industry

The recovery in the sector continues to gather pace. After a dismal two years of border closures and collapsing enrolments, international students are starting to return in some numbers. Figures from English Australia show that nationwide ELICOS commencements in July were up by 50 per cent on 2021, while enrolments were up by 7 per cent.

ELICOS visas were over 5000 in July, the highest monthly figure in years, with big numbers arriving from Thailand, Colombia and Brazil, making up for the reduction in numbers from China. Before the pandemic, many colleges were highly dependent on Chinese students, so it’s encouraging that providers are diversifying their student cohort. For many months, colleges have cited poor enrolment figures as a reason to hold down wages, but the increasingly good numbers suggest this excuse won’t be valid for much longer.

Agreements round-up

Your union is pushing for agreements in the sector. For much of this year, the IEU has been involved in negotiations at several colleges, most notably UTS College (where an agreement was finalised a few months ago), WSU The College, UoW College.

WSU The College is about to ballot employees on a proposed, union-endorsed settlement, which will give pay rises of 4% in 2022, 3.25% in 2023 and 3% in 2024, along with improvements in casual pay, superannuation, and several other areas.

Negotiations at UoW College are continuing, with salary still a sticking point, though a recent improved offer by management of around 3% per annum, while likely still short of what members will accept, is a step in the right direction.

Negotiations will soon start at Navitas English, the ELICOS arm of Navitas. Officers from the union met with teachers at the college in early October, and work has begun on developing a log of claims, with bargaining meetings to start in November.

Things have been less smooth at Taylors College, with the governing company Study Group initially resisting calls from teachers to commence bargaining. The Fair Work Act does include provisions to compel employers to bargain, which your union was considering invoking, but thankfully, in mid-October, Study Group finally agreed to commence bargaining.

Enterprise bargaining usually leads to wages and conditions that are superior to the underpinning award. To find out how this might work at your college, contact your union, the IEU.

Kendall Warren
Organiser