Interim 4% pay offer at Southern Cross University

CPSU union organiser at Southern Cross University, Stephen Senise who is based at Lismore Campus, has welcomed the university's recent pay offer to staff.

The university has offered an interim 4 percent, with 2% payable in December and another 2% payable from 1 June 2004. The term of the agreement will end at 30 June 2004.

A meeting of members has endorsed the offer. The university is proposing to ballot staff in the next few weeks to roll over the current agreement with the new pay rates for the next twelve months, i.e. conditions are unchanged.

"CPSU members at Southern Cross believe the university's pay offer is a satisfactory one," said Mr Senise.

"The unions have played an important role in ensuring that staff at Southern Cross University are already amongst the highest paid in the sector at a national level, and this pay-offer will help cement that position for at least the next 12 months."

"Importantly there will be no trade-offs in conditions - these will remain unchanged."

"The Joint Consultative Forum (JCF) will during this period of time, serve as a mechanism for discussion between unions and the university about issues and conditions affecting staff."

"I expect there will be a degree to which the JCF will serve to place such matters on the agenda in preparation for the bargaining which will precede the next agreement."

"That's one of the benefits of the pay-offer: it delivers 4% prior to a new agreement being formally thrashed out, and 12 months in which to prepare for it."

The previous pay rise was 2.5% from June 30 this year..