The recent CSU enterprise agreement for 2017 has been making waves in the academic community. The agreement, which is meant to cover the working conditions of staff at Charles Sturt University, was negotiated over a period of months between the university management and the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).

One of the key aspects of the agreement is the pay rise that staff will receive. Under the new agreement, staff will receive a 2% salary increase from July 1, 2017, with a further 2% increase to come on July 1, 2018. This is a significant increase compared to the 1.5% increase that was agreed upon in the previous enterprise agreement.

The new agreement also includes improvements to job security, with fixed-term contracts being converted to ongoing positions in some cases. There are also improvements to leave provisions, with an increase in the number of personal leave days that staff can take.

One area that has caused some controversy, however, is the introduction of the academic workload model. This model is designed to provide a more transparent and consistent approach to workload management across the university. However, some staff have raised concerns about the potential for the model to be used to increase workloads without providing additional resources or support.

Overall, the 2017 CSU enterprise agreement represents a significant improvement in working conditions for staff at the university. While there are some concerns about certain aspects of the agreement, it is clear that the negotiations between the university management and the NTEU have resulted in a fair and reasonable deal for employees.