The industrial dispute at Canberra’s two main universities is solved … for the time being. All along the universities said they could not give more than 2 per cent. It was a case of could not, not would not. The university did not have the money in its budget and the budget was locked in legislative cement by the Federal Government. All along the unions said they would not settle without substantially more. Now, after weeks of disruptive bans, a arrangement has been arrived at to save the face of both sides after such a destructive battle. The university will pay 7.6 per cent. The difference of 5.6 per cent is to come in federal government supplementation.
What if the Federal Government does not give any supplementation? Who knows. Of course, the universities should never have been put into the situation. They were required to engage the union in enterprise bargaining. But the universities are not an enterprise. They have no profits from which to absorb wage increases, or prices with which to pass them on.
The danger is, of course, that that is precisely what will come from this episode. The universities will be turned into enterprises, and fees will be their prices. This would be a tragic development. In the past decade many functions have been privatised and corporatised with great efficiencies and great public benefit, but education should not be one of them.
It is important for government and universities to find a more appropriate method of wage fixation on campus.