The University of Western Australia (UWA) will cut 23 total positions in their Student Life department, amidst ongoing enterprise bargaining with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).
Following consultation with staff, 60 positions will be cut and 37 new positions created in their place. In areas such as counselling and the student offices, positions made redundant are then replaced by lower, less senior appointments in the restructure.
Pelican Magazine, UWA’s student publication, has reported that the Health Promotion Unit will also be cut. The Unit is an organisation that runs programs for students aimed at tackling sexual assault on campus and drug and alcohol abuse.
NTEU members from the Student Life department submitted a 36 page document to University management prior to the proposal. The NTEU has also reported that some staff have preferred to remain anonymous throughout the process for fear of facing repercussions should they speak out.
“Staff in Student Life had been anticipating a restructure announcement for a couple of years, so the release of the proposal was not unexpected. What was shocking was the scale of the cuts in already overworked areas. Some positions are also marked to be downgraded to a lower level. Unsurprisingly people in those positions feel devalued and disrespected by the proposal.” Sanna Peden, NTEU UWA Branch President, told Honi.
“Some staff will be facing the prospect of either taking a pay cut or leaving the university entirely. The University would stand to lose a lot of expertise and knowledge on the ground,” Peden continued.
UWA NTEU has entered into enterprise bargaining with University management, and are negotiating for improved job security, organisational change processes, workloads and intellectual freedoms.
The UWA Student Guild has spoken against the cuts, and have committed to working with the NTEU against university management. “We as a Guild firmly believe that the NTEU and the management will be able to work together along with the feedback received to make amendments to the proposal that will not negatively affect the student services at UWA. The Guild will not tolerate anything less than that,” Guild President Geemal Jayawickrama told Honi.
Students have been urged to sign a petition in support of staff.
