TEU takes legal action against AUT over 170 job cuts

AUT decided to cut 170 positions in October. Photo / Michael Craig

The Tertiary Education Union is taking legal action against AUT in the hope it will stop 170 staff redundancies.

The job losses were announced at the end of last month for full-time academic positions.

Organiser Jill Jones says their preference is to resolve issues without legal action, but believes they’ve been left with no choice, in part due to Vice-Chancellor Damon Salesa’s refusal to meaningfully engage with staff face to face.

She says the Vice-Chancellor should front, withdraw the proposal and talk to the union about how to make AUT great without breaching the collective agreement.

In October, staff learned in an emailed message from Salesa that staffing levels in that group would be cut by 170 positions.

Student numbers had continued to fall, government funding and fees increases weren’t keeping pace with inflation, and salary costs had continued to increase, he said.

Updated forecasting suggested AUT would have 250 fewer equivalent full-time students than the number projected when the cuts were first proposed, representing a further hit to student revenue for 2023 of about $2.5 million.

“This is an experience shared across the sector, as most universities face a decline in student demand, and our capable staff are doing as much as we can to attract new students,” Salesa said.

“The current economy, extraordinary and ongoing inflationary pressure, the consequences of the pandemic, and the challenges in attracting international students back to New Zealand are all headwinds we must face.”

The email laid out a month-long timetable in which voluntary severance among affected staff could be dealt with, before the changes came into effect on December 1.

AUT has been approached for comment.