News

Heavy job losses likely if Morrison Government fails to act

Morrison Warning – June 2020 (PDF version)

The UNSW has confirmed that heavy job losses are likely to be “in the hundreds” at a meeting this morning with representatives of the CPSU NSW.

While the university expressed confidence in its financial position for 2020, it remain deeply concerned about the situation over 2021 and 2022.

Briefly, the main points coming out of today’s meeting were:

• The university is saying that there will be job losses later this year. It would not give us an exact number but says it will likely be “in the hundreds”.
• The recent Commonwealth Government announcement in relation to planned changes to course funding and fee structures are likely to amplify rather than ameliorate the University’s financial problems
• Change management planning is proceeding and UNSW expects to call for expressions of interest in voluntary redundancy shortly
• While the university is hopeful of achieving significant saving through voluntary measures they do not expect to get a sufficient interest to achieve the savings in employee related expenses sought
• UNSW does not intend to seek variations to its enterprise agreements with staff, as the University does not believe sufficient savings could be achievable and they still would not be able to give any sort of guarantee in relation to job security

What can you do?

The financial crisis facing the UNSW and all our public universities has been exacerbated by the Commonwealth Government’s failure to adequately support one of our most successful and profitable export industries.

While the UNSW should be doing everything possible to ensure the wages, conditions and jobs of all university staff are maintained and protected, the Morrison Government must also step in to ensure the sector does not collapse and retains the capacity to compete and expand in a post-COVID global marketplace.

Sign the petition HERE to Education Minister Dan Tehan, and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The CPSU NSW will also be approaching our local Federal MPs, Matt Thistlethwaite, Dave Sharma and Tanya Plibersek and seek their support for critical crisis funding for UNSW and our other public universities. If you would like to attend and/or have your story conveyed to them please contact CPSU NSW Organiser Kirra Jackson .

CPSU NSW Professional Staff meeting

The CPSU NSW will convene a meeting of UNSW Professional Staff on Wednesday 15 July at 12.30.

Please register for this meeting HERE.

Contact the CPSU NSW

In the meantime, if you have any questions or feedback, please get contact CPSU NSW Branch President Alister Wareing or Organiser Kirra Jackson .

Not a member? JOIN today.

CPSU NSW – The Professional Staff Union

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