10 November 2020: Staff, students and members of the broader ANU community will rally outside ANU Chancelry to protest ANU proposals to outsource ANU jobs – part of the broader ANU Recovery Plan which will see 465 staff leave through voluntary separations and redundancies. The rally, organised by the National Tertiary Education Union, will take place tomorrow (Wednesday 11 November) at 12pm.
ANU staff are currently engaging with Managing Change Proposals across the university in areas such as the College of Arts & Social Sciences (CASS); the College of Engineering & Computer Science (CECS); Global Engagement; and the Operations Portfolio. The 'Tranche 1' plan for the Operations Portfolio proposes outsourcing jobs in AV Services, Printing Services and Telephony. ANU staff fear that 'Tranche 2' of changes in the portfolio – which includes areas such as IT Services and Library staff – could involve further outsourcing proposals. The NTEU maintains that ANU work should be done by ANU workers, with ANU pay and conditions.
As part of the rally, NTEU members will present an enlarged Managing Change Proposal of their own to Chancelry, which disestablishes all positions in the ANU Council and ANU Executive. Such a move, if implemented, could save $9.79 million for ANU's bottom line. NTEU Delegates argue that better decisions could be made democratically, and with a consultants bill of $43.6 million this year already (to 31 August), it would appear that ANU Management has already outsourced itself.
As stated by NTEU ACT Division Secretary Dr Cathy Day:
"Our Managing Change Proposal to get rid of all staff in the ANU Council and ANU Executive is clearly not real, but the multiple Change Proposals happening across the university are very real. These are real people, real workers, real family members, who've lost their jobs in order to prop up a $250 million surplus for the university coffers. We believe that ANU work should be done by ANU workers, with ANU pay and conditions."
As stated by NTEU ANU Branch President Simon Copland:
"Plans for outsourcing make a mockery of the ANU's 'Recovery Plan'. It is well known that outsourcing costs more, while reducing services. No matter what the ANU Executive says, we're deeply concerned that this will be the outcome here as well. The more details we get about the Recovery Plan, the more it appears to our members that this is all about the ANU Executive restructuring the University, not simply saving it from the current financial crisis."
