Hundreds of university staff in Canberra and Wollongong have rallied against job cuts, as universities across the country roll out attacks in the wake of Labor’s plans to slash the numbers of international students permitted to study in Australia.
More than 1200 job cuts have already been announced across the sector, with Universities Australia estimating 14,000 jobs are at risk.
Staff are wary of these figures—universities used loss of revenue during the pandemic to justify a staggering 35,000 job cuts, only to announce a total surplus of $5.3 billion thanks to their attacks on workers.
At the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, staff have defeated a plan to axe their pay rise of 2.5 per cent this year—with 89 per cent of the more than 4700 votes in an all-staff ballot against the proposal.
ANU also announced in October they would cut more than 150 jobs, with the NTEU estimating 638 full-time equivalent jobs are threatened.
But the number of job cuts from ANU’s College of Health and Medicine has been reduced from 50 to just 13 after the NTEU filed a dispute.
The University of Canberra announced plans to scrap no fewer than 200 jobs—despite paying former Vice-Chancellor Paddy Nixon an astonishing $1.8 million and an increase in spending on consultants of $9.5 million.
The University of Wollongong (UOW) is set to cut as many as 137 jobs following the drop in international student enrolments. UOW interim Vice-Chancellor John Dewar is a partner of KordaMentha, the firm hired to oversee the restructuring and job cut plans, a conflict of interests that beggars belief.
More cuts are on the way—the University of Sydney, for instance, is openly expecting a shortfall of $90-110 million and has already announced that hiring freezes and other cost-cutting measures are to come. Similarly, the University of Technology of Sydney is expected to announce cost-cutting measures in excess of $100 million.
University bosses across the country are blatantly lining their pockets while they attack workers. An NTEU report has exposed that there are 306 senior executives nationwide earning more than their respective state premiers.
A much larger fight will be needed against the cuts—including industrial action by staff. In 2012 when the University of Sydney announced 340 job cuts, thousands protested and students went on strike and launched occupations, saving half the academic jobs. That’s the kind of fightback needed again.
By Alex Nicolson
