Australian Catholic University says it’s “not considering voluntary redundancies.” Good-o but fixed term and casual/sessional staff should watch out

ACU forecasts a $125.9m revenue loss across 2020-22, due to COVID-19 and the loss of international student revenue.  Measures to manage it include, reducing non-salary expenditure ($31m) and, with university senate approval, using $53m in “future forecast surpluses” to create a “reinvestment fund,” “to invest in saving the jobs of our staff.”

However, and it is a considerable qualification for staff involved, there will be a, “review of further fixed term employment,” and “reduced sessional and casual employment.”

And no part of ACU will escape. “Workforce costing savings and staff reductions will be applied to each organisation unit,” The target for savings on staff is $42m.

But staff will have to be involved; “we are not considering a voluntary separation programme. Where a change is required, change management will be undertaken in-line with the enterprise agreement,” the university states. This means staff would vote on any move to “vary” the 2021 pay-rise now in the EA.

None of which went down well with the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union, “the NTEU condemns in the strongest possible terms the development of plans that erode staff conditions and result in the loss of security, agreed entitlements and the livelihoods for our colleagues.”

Branch president Leah Kaufmann adds the union will oppose any proposal to vary the enterprise agreement, “proposed by the ACU alone.”