Concession-bargaining in Australian higher education: The case of the national jobs protection framework

Authors/Creators

Alexis Vassiley, Edith Cowan UniversityFollow
Francis Russell

Abstract

Australian universities suffered significant financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) responded with a concession-bargaining strategy, offering university managements a National Jobs Protection Framework (NJPF), which traded pay reductions for job security measures. This article provides an account of the development, promotion, and eventual collapse of the NJPF. We analyse the arguments for and against the NJPF, drawing on contemporary material from its supporters and opponents, and insights from the literature on concession-bargaining. We conclude that concession-bargaining was an unsuccessful strategy for the union, and put forward an alternative industrial strategy.

RAS ID

39872

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2021

School

School of Business and Law / Centre for Work + Wellbeing

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Comments

Vassiley, A., & Russell, F. (2021). Concession-bargaining in Australian higher education: The case of the national jobs protection framework. Labour and Industry, 31(4), 439-456. https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2021.2002239

Recommended Citation

Vassiley, A., & Russell, F. (2021). Concession-bargaining in Australian higher education: The case of the national jobs protection framework. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10301763.2021.2002239