Tough times have got tougher at Monash U

Vice Chancellor Margaret Gardner warns things are worse than when staff agreed to vary the enterprise agreement to minimise job losses. The calculations underpinning the arrangement then were based “on relatively open borders for international students” next year, plus “we did not and could not anticipate the federal funding changes.”

And so, “we need to adjust further elements of our operation beyond the adjustments we are making to deal with the pandemic. We cannot give certainty about what this might mean yet.”

It’s not as quite as bad it sounds, the vice chancellor adds; “I am not signalling a change in the commitment given about a 277 FTE job loss by the end of this year. I am simply trying to make clear that the pressure to achieve this number has heightened.”

But the VC signals VRs will not be available to all. Management is looking for VRs where work ending will make it possible to lose positions without leaving managers, “finding ways to cover workload that did not disappear with the positions being removed.” This is in-line with what Professor Gardner told staff in June (CMM June 11) when she said the 277 loss would protect a further 190 jobs and that VRs would come before involuntary ones.

The university, “will consult with the National Tertiary Education Union over what is intended and why,” Professor Gardner adds. The comrades will likely want to know how many willing staff will leave and how many will be told to go.