Concerns proposed restructure will not be in line with new vice-chancellor’s vision for university

MAJOR unions involved in Charles Darwin University’s staff restructure say the institution should hold all changes until new leadership steps in

• Why 77 jobs are set to go in CDU restructure
• Report: CDU proposes to demolish or consolidate facilities to save

THREE major unions involved in Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) staff restructure say the institution should go into caretaker mode and put all proposed changes on hold until a new vice-chancellor is recruited.

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Local representatives from the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) and Australian Education Union (AEU) have all agreed CDU should delay the restructure of its Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Education sectors, over concerns the changes might not be in line with the new leader’s aspirations for CDU.

The restructure is being led by deputy vice-chancellor Meredith Parry.

The draft proposes to axe 77 jobs, 19 VET courses and is expected to save CDU $10m, with the changes set to begin on December 14.

NTEU NT branch president Darius Pfitzner said CDU’s council should have already made the decision to go into caretaker mode.

“This will enable the new leadership team to have constructive input into shaping CDU’s future, that they would be influencing, managing and lead for some time,” Dr Pfitzner said.

“One would think that doing this before a new vice-chancellor — who would have their own vision of what they would want the university to be — that maybe they would hold off on that until they arrive,” AEU NT branch secretary Adam Lampe said.

ANMF NT branch secretary Yvonne Falckh said the date for changes to begin was reason enough to postpone the restructure.

“In case the university forgot, the people they’re going to do this to are humans, and they have families and they have mortgages and they’ve been impacted by the coronavirus,” she said.

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“It is the most inhumane thing to implement any of these changes at a time of Christmas.”

A CDU spokeswoman said the draft change proposals were in the consultation stage and supporting potentially affected staff was a key priority.

Outgoing vice-chancellor Simon Maddocks has announced plans to resign at the end of the year. A new vice-chancellor is expected to start work at the beginning of 2021.

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