Management is asking staff to support a savings deal – the NTEU says it’s not good enough

Vice Chancellor Adam Shoemaker wants staff to give-up a pay-rise this year and defer one in 2021, among concessions to save $5.8m of the $38m the university expects to be down over 18 months, due to COVID-19.

In return the VC puts, “on record my commitment to explore voluntary redundancies before any targeted job cuts,” (CMM July 2).

To which the campus branch of the National Tertiary Education Union responds by warning, “management has refused to provide any enforceable improvements to job security.”

After talks with management went nowhere last week, the union is urging staff vote against the variation to the enterprise agreement management’s proposal requires.

But rather than adamantine opposition the NTEU says a “no” now will force management to consider alternatives, such as a leave buy-back scheme. “NTEU members are not saying ‘just vote no’ we are telling staff to ‘vote no to get a better deal’ … if staff sacrifice their wages for the future of the university, then the sacrifice must be offset by tangible and enforceable improvements to job security.”

This is the strategy the union successfully used at Uni Wollongong where staff voted against management’s savings options, in the hope that management would talk to the union – which is now happening (CMM yesterday).