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A Brisbane university has brought in the Fair Work Commission into pay negotiations, despite claims from the union the university had yet to tell its workforce what it wanted from the deal.
Staff at all three major Brisbane universities – Queensland University of Technology, University of queensland and Griffith University – have taken protected industrial action over stalling pay deal talks, with QUT workers planning a part-day strike on Wednesday.
National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Queensland branch secretary Michael McNally said QUT management filed with the Fair Work Commission on Monday, asking the independent body to mediate talks rather than working directly with the union.
“[The university] has spat the dummy and called the umpire,” he said.
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The university confirmed it had asked the commission to intervene.
“This is a standard mechanism available to bargaining parties and reflects our commitment to making progress,” the QUT spokesperson said.
“We believe the commission’s independent assistance will help both parties continue working towards an agreement that is fair, sustainable, and good for our people and our university.”
Talks between QUT and the NTEU began after the previous enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) expired in December 2025, and have centred on a 20 per cent flat-rate pay increase.
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McNally told this masthead QUT staff had not received a pay rise since December 2024, which was 2.5 per cent.
A sticking point for a renewed deal was the university’s use of AI. The union said staff needed protections against “any adverse effects of artificial intelligence systems in the workplace”.
Workers also wanted clearer leave policies, better workload management – including improvements to overtime – and improved conditions for casual staff.
McNally said QUT staff would walk off the job for several hours on Tuesday, rallying at Gardens Point around midday.
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“We’re also increasing the bans that we have had in place on using university systems and meeting with managers … we’re upping the ante,” he said.
Pay talks were also under way at Griffith University – where staff were ramping up protected action more than a year after the previous agreement expired – and the University of Queensland, where workers walked off the job on Tuesday.
Striking workers likened negotiations to a being a “frog on the boil”.
“We’re slowly being boiled alive – conditions are getting worse, what we’re being offered is worse, and we need to wake up to that and jump out of the pot straight away because it’s not going as well as it should,” UQ architecture associate professor Kelly Greenop said.
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Greenop, who was involved in bargaining with the university, said UQ had delivered a log of claims more than five months into talks with the union and its members.
“Sadly, every time we negotiate an agreement with UQ they usually wait until we’ve had a strike … so I really hope they come back with some much more serious offers,” she said.
Staff and the university resumed talks on Thursday. A UQ spokesperson said the university was committed to finalising an agreement before the end of the year.
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Catherine Strohfeldt is a reporter at Brisbane Times.Connect via X or email.AdvertisementAdvertisement