Action needed to stop cuts at Victoria.

Te Hautū Kahurangi | Tertiary Education Union members at Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington are vowing to fight for every job in the wake of today’s announcement of widespread job cuts. The employer has cited a drop in enrolments and a resulting budget shortfall as the cause of up to 260 FTE now facing the axe.

TEU Branch President Dougal McNeill says “our members do not accept that cuts of this magnitude are the answer to anything. If they go ahead, the result will be unhappy students who will lose their lecturers and supervisors while the standard of service they get from libraries and administrators will reduce. Remaining staff will struggle with further increases to workloads that are already unmanageable.”

“We will campaign hard to stop these cuts. University management, government ministers and MPs should be on notice that our members are not about to go quietly.”

Te Pou Ahurei Takirua – Ahumahi | Assistant National Secretary – Industrial Irena Brörens says “while Victoria University management has been signalling for some time that cuts are on the way, we are disappointed to see that the funding boost announced in last week’s Budget has not made an impact on their plans at a time when Aotearoa is crying out for more skilled workers.”

“We have seen time and time again, the impact widespread cuts like these have on morale of staff and students and the services the institution exists to provide. Unfortunately this sort of short term thinking does not turn a struggling entity around – it’s more likely to do the reverse."

“We call on Minister of Education Jan Tinetti, local MP and Finance Minister Grant Robertson, and Vice Chancellor Nic Smith to think very carefully about the implications of these cuts and rethink their plans.”