Staff at the University of New England could launch legal action if they're not kept in the loop about the process of slashing $20 million in costs.
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UNE National Tertiary Education Union spokesperson Bea Bleile said the university enterprise bargaining agreement guaranteed consultation - or at least full information - about any "organisational change" in their work.
The UNE last month released a 26-page document explaining the cuts titled 'Time for Change'.
But Dr Bleile said it didn't fulfill the EBA requirements, and demanded more information and justification for the proposed cuts to jobs at the university.
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If the union didn't get more information, they were considering taking legal action, she said.
"We can notify a dispute and if we still don't get it we take the university to the Fair Work Commission."
UNE Vice-Chancellor and CEO Professor Brigid Heywood doesn't agree with the union that the "organisational change" clause is triggered by the proposed job cuts.
"UNE will continue to share information with staff and employee representatives as the redesign unfolds through weekly updates on the 'Time for Change' website," she said.
"In addition, UNE is meeting with the unions on a weekly basis."
Nearly a month on from the July announcement of the massive redundancy program union spokesperson Dr Bleile said nothing she had learned since had convinced her it was a good idea for UNE.
"The more I hear the worse I think it will be," she said.
Staff have been offered voluntary redundancies, but some may be refused them if granting them would eliminate a position crucial to the running of the university, she said.
A number of staff have expressed interest in taking a payout. But others are concerned there won't be enough volunteers to make up the $20 million saving, forcing forced redundancies.
Asked if the university was confident they would not have to resort to forced redundancy, Professor Heywood said it is too soon to speculate, though she said it would be "unlikely".
She said UNE would, in that instance, need to consider other options using two new enterprise agreement frameworks approved in early 2020 by a staff vote.
The union will next week move to establish a new campaign against the cuts alongside NTEU branches across NSW.
The union has opposed the budget cuts since they were announced, saying they would have a devastating affect on students, staff and local business.
One colleague told Dr Bleile in July if the presentation were an exam they had to assess "it would be a fail or, to be kind, a revise and resubmit".
The UNE has been one of the least affected by the COVID-19 crisis that has devastated Australia's tertiary education sector, providing most of its classes online even before the crisis.
Andrew Messenger
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Politics, environment and energy journalist at the Northern Daily Leader. I also write about health, bushfires and occasionally music. I'm a Brisbane boy by way of Charleville and Hobart who now lives in in beautiful New England. Get me at andrew.messenger@austcommunitymedia.com.au
