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.

The basic principle is that ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’. 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.