La Trobe University union members vote to save jobs

More than 225 jobs are likely to be saved under an agreement endorsed by La Trobe University members of the National Tertiary Education Union.

Approximately three in four NTEU members (74.3%) endorsed an agreement which:

  • preserves more than 225 jobs that would otherwise have been lost;
  • preserves hard won leave conditions;
  • cuts senior executive salaries by more than 20 per cent;
  • cuts capital works and travel, and draws on cash reserves;
  • facilitates temporary one year pay reductions of between five and ten per cent for academic and professional staff on incomes above $30,000.

NTEU National President, Dr Alison Barnes said:

“Universities are facing their toughest ever crisis and have been completely abandoned by the federal Government. This vote reflects an overwhelming desire among rank and file NTEU members to save their colleagues’ careers and limit the social devastation of this crisis.

“Decisions such as this are not easy, and these are not circumstances we ever wished to find ourselves in. But it is heartening to see union members dig deep to spare their colleagues from career devastation.

“By contrast, Deakin University provides a real world example of what happens when managers engages in callous cost cutting. At Deakin, management refused to participated in job protection and 400 people have lost jobs, with 300 of those losses involuntary redundancies.

“It is well beyond time for Dan Tehan and the Commonwealth Government to come to the table with a rescue package. Australian universities have lost $4.5 billion in this pandemic. Thousands of households are being plunged into deep anxiety and financial distress.”

Tags:
media release, COVID-19, national, La Trobe University, Jobs Protection Framework

Related Blogs:
ACT Division,NSW Division,NT Division,Vic Division,WA Division,SA Division,Qld Division,Tas Division,Australian Catholic University,University of Adelaide,Australian Defence Force Academy,Australian National University,Federation University Australia,Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education,Bond University,University of Canberra,Charles Darwin University,Central Queensland University,Charles Sturt University,Curtin University of Technology,Deakin University,Edith Cowan University,Flinders University,Griffith University,James Cook University,La Trobe University,Macquarie University,University of Melbourne,Monash University,Murdoch University,University of Notre Dame Australia,University of Newcastle,University of New South Wales,Queensland University of Technology,RMIT University,Southern Cross University,Swinburne University of Technology,University of Sydney,University of New England,University of Queensland,University of South Australia,University of the Sunshine Coast,University of Southern Queensland,University of Technology Sydney,University of Western Australia,Western Sydney University,Victoria University,University of Wollongong,edXpress,Navitas

/Public Release. View in full here.