Tertiary Education Union (TEU) branch president Craig Marshall was lukewarm in describing the agreement under which staff will receive $7250 over the next two years.
TEU bargaining has been taking place nationwide since July, as branches at eight universities negotiate the renewal of collective agreements.
Members pushed for a pay increase of 8% in order to keep pace with climbing inflation, and staff at the University of Otago rebuffed an offer of 2% increase with a strike in October.
Because there was only a certain amount of money available, the idea of a set percentage increase had been abandoned, Associate Prof Marshall said.
People at the lowest end of the salary scale were the most impacted by the rising cost of living.
"By having that same amount of money added to everyone’s salary, it made the most difference to those people.
"People felt it was not an unreasonable outcome given the stresses the university is under, but I don’t think that anyone would say it was a real win."
Despite this, when the offer was put to TEU members last month in a ratification ballot, there was "strong support" for acceptance.
In such a settlement, the outcome was unlikely to make either side happy, he said.
"We are fortunate that we were able to negotiate, although we didn’t agree with the university administration on many things."
The University of Otago, University of Canterbury and Victoria University of Wellington are the only universities to have reached an agreement with the TEU so far.
In an email to university staff from HR director Kevin Seales confirming the agreement , he thanked the union representatives and members for a respectful approach to negotiations.
The email described the settlement and notified staff that back pay to union members for this year’s salary increase would be delivered on Tuesday, December 13.
For non-union staff, back pay would arrive next year, on January 24.
The agreement would expire on June 30 2024, but Associate Prof Marshall said it was probable negotiations would restart long before then.
