Southern Cross U announces voluntary redundancy round

There will be more savings to come

The National Tertiary Education Union at SCU made the most of its Friday win, when the university community voted against an enterprise agreement variation to end and defer pay rises (CMM yesterday). Yesterday the union again urged Vice Chancellor Adam Shoemaker to engage on ways to save money while securing jobs.

And the Community and Public Sector Union, which had backed the university’s proposal, accepted defeat and lined up with the NTEU. “Our focus must now shift to doing what we can to support our members, ensuring that staff wellbeing is paramount in all our discussions with the university”

“We have spoken with management representatives and emphasised our ongoing willingness to engage in collaborative negotiations,” the CPSU said.

But the university is not for talking on alternative savings. Late yesterday Professor Shoemaker acted on his previous statement to find savings under the terms of the existing enterprise agreement, announcing a voluntary redundancy round.

And there will be more to come; “other steps will clearly be required,” he said.