Bargaining is a system whereby unions and their members negotiate on behalf of all employees to establish legally enforceable rights and entitlements, including salaries, paid leave such as parental leave, redundancy pay, limits on workloads, and hundreds of other entitlements.

Most of your rights and working conditions are set and protected by these union-negotiated Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (EBAs). Contracts of employment generally don’t include any rights for workers, and university policies can be changed without notice. By law we are only allowed to negotiate employer by employer – for now we can’t negotiate on an industry level.

Members decide what we claim for, i.e. our Log of Claims (LoC) – through two processes:

• The NTEU's National Council, which consists of elected delegates from all branches, determines the overall bargaining strategy by identifying the common issues that widely affect members nationally.

• Members at each NTEU branch decide on the local claims to be pursued with their employers, alongside the claims which form part of the national strategy.
  

Most nationally shared claims are qualitative rather than quantitative, so members shape what the national claims look like in practice locally. NTEU members develop Branch LoCs over a period of time and it is then taken to an all members' meeting for review. Once members are satisfied, the LoC is put up for endorsement and it is that Log of Claims that is presented to management as an initial document of the intention of the members.

Negotiating always involves give and take, with the employer making concessions and the union having to compromise on some of its claims. Your Branch Bargaining team will communicate regularly with members and seek frequent input and contribution to arguments at the table and responses to management proposals.

Keep in mind that if you are not yet a union member you cannot participate in determining what is accepted, so join now.

When the bargaining team thinks they have a draft agreement which can be put to members for full endorsement, this is first checked by the NTEU’s National Executive to ensure nothing in the proposed Agreement could compromise or undermine agreements at other branches. Once approved by National Executive, the Agreement is then put to branch members for endorsement at a general meeting. Once the Agreement has been endorsed by NTEU members, it will then be put to a formal vote of all staff.

If the vote is successful, the Agreement proceeds for final checking and ratification by the Fair Work Commission before it becomes legally binding.

We believe the best way to stay involved and in touch is as a union member - you will receive regular updates and be invited to all-member meetings where decisions are made about the process, inclusions and exclusions in the Branch Log of Claims. As a union member, should it come to it, you will be protected if your branch membership decides to take any form of protected industrial action; if you aren't a member, you cannot participate without putting yourself at risk. But if you cannot become a member for some reason, there are still many ways to participate:

• Participate in union actions – come to sundowners, meetings, workshops, protests, and make suggestions for events you think would be effective, too!

• Be a visible supporter – put up posters, wear a badge or sticker. You can also request printed materials and other merch from your Branch office.

• Talk to your friends about bargaining and why they need to join.

• Join a bargaining reference group or the campaign committee

• Sign up to be a volunteer.
  

We do understand that circumstances arise where union membership seems out of reach or unaffordable. If that's the case, please contact your Branch Organiser who will be happy to show how union membership is worth investing in - it's tax deductible and in this climate, more important that ever to have a workplace safety net. Convinced? Join here!