Yesterday, TAFE NSW wrote to its employees and announced that online meetings were to be scheduled throughout today in order to “talk through the outcomes of the proposed changes” to the staffing levels in the Student Services Branch (SSB) and Facilities Management and Logistics (FM&L).
Initially, TAFE NSW proposed that a total of 678 positions were to be cut from SSB and FM&L. Although there has been no confirmation as to the total number of jobs that TAFE plans on slashing, it is assumed these job cuts will run into the hundreds of jobs – including up to 87 security guards.
The CPSU NSW reached out to TAFE yesterday and asked that any meeting regarding the consultative period and the proposed changes to SSB and FM&L be postponed until the current lockdown has come to an end. TAFE ignored this request and proceeded with today’s meetings regardless.
TAFE NSW provided to FM&L today the exact positions that were to be cut from the current structure, and further information as to the placement process. It also stated it would be providing letters to affected staff regarding whether they have been mapped to a position under the new structure, and in doing so provided no certainty regarding the future employment of those employees working within FM&L. There is still insufficient detail and clarity around SSB, including which positions will not exist under the proposed structure.
CPSU NSW Delegates will be meeting tomorrow to discuss the outcomes (or lack thereof) from today’s session and will devise a plan as to how the CPSU NSW will deal with this issue moving forward. After that, we will arrange mass member meetings online to keep all members updated and to discuss any concerns that you may have. We understand this is a difficult time for all members, so please don’t hesitate to reach out, and remember your union is on your side and will fight for you on your behalf.
In the meantime, if you know of anybody who isn’t a union member but would like to join, they can join online at www.cpsunsw.org.au/join. We are stronger as a collective, and acting in union is the only way that we will be able to stand up and fight against TAFE’s blatant cost-cutting measures.
