The Australian National University is asking staff to forgo an agreed pay rise – a request the union says will do nothing to stave off a potential 638 job cuts and only reveals the chancellery’s “complete mismanagement and delusion”.
The vice-chancellor of ANU, Prof Genevieve Bell, sent an email to all university staff on Tuesday which asked them “to consider forgoing the upcoming 2.5% December pay increase under the ANU enterprise agreement [EA]”.
Last week the ANU Council gave directions to the chancellery to reduce the university’s recurring cost base by $250m by the end of 2025, including $100m in staff expenditure.
“Everything needs to be on the table including all of our salaries,” Bell wrote to staff.
“This morning I informed the ANU Council I will be reducing my salary by 10% effective immediately.”
For the request to all staff to freeze their pay to take effect, it would need to be agreed by the majority of ANU staff employed under the EA through a vote; an informal, indicative ballot will take place Wednesday at a rally in the university’s central precinct.
The rally was planned by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) prior to the email being sent out to demand accountability for the $100m in staff expenditure the union estimated was equivalent to 638 full-time staff. The NTEU said that with 50 proposed job losses already announced at ANU, they expect more in late 2024 and early 2025.
The request would only apply to the upcoming pay increase in December, not subsequent pay increases agreed upon, Bell wrote in her email.
The enterprise agreement negotiated was for 18.5% pay increase over the course of 2023-2026, paid in six-monthly increments. Bell’s email states “staff would still receive 16% pay increase over the life of the current enterprise agreement”.
“I know this is a big ask, but … if we take it collectively, it will prevent some job losses in our community.”
The NTEU’s ANU branch president, Millan Pintos-Lopez, said staff did not trust the vice-chancellor’s promise that the sacrifice would prevent job losses.
The staff agreed to a similar amendment to their enterprise agreement in 2020 under the condition that it would protect and save jobs but Brian Schmidt, the vice-chancellor at the time, “went ahead and sacked 465 hard-working staff”, Pintos-Lopez said.
“It feels like we’re in an episode of Fawlty Towers. I think there’s just a sense of complete mismanagement and delusion from the chancellery,” he said.
“We’re in a cost of living crisis – they’ve just increased parking by 177%, they’re cutting jobs left, right and centre, and then they’re asking us to take a pay cut. All while they are hiring additional executives on exorbitant salaries. It’s absurd.”
Bell said she also asked the university’s senior leaders employed on performance-based employment contracts to consider foregoing the 2.5% salary increase due in December this year, which would save the university about $1.2m.
Pintos-Lopez said: “It’s our understanding that there’s 12 people in this university who are paid over $500,000 a year. We also understand that there are 82 people who are paid over 300,000 a year.
“This university is so top heavy. It’s been so poorly managed for such a long time – and the first thing they do is they come for low-level professional staff roles. That’s the first thing they do.”
While those on performance-based employment contracts could make an individual decision on their pay, for the rest of staff “it’s at the discretion of the whole community”, Pintos-Lopez said.
“I think that every likelihood is our members will rally together and ask us as union leadership to forge a campaign and fight against the VC’s proposal,” Pintos-Lopez said.
“The vice-chancellor and the university’s popularity is plummeting,” he said, adding that the 2020 decision to accept a change to the EA was taken amid the uncertainty of the Covid pandemic.
A spokesperson for the ANU said: “This is a consultative process. We have presented a proposal to amend the academic structure, held town hall meetings with all staff and with each of the seven colleges, and are currently in the consultation period where staff can provide feedback on the proposals before final decisions are made.”
The NTEU’s Monash branch president, Dr Ben Eltham, wrote on X: “What’s going on at ANU right now is quite extraordinary.”
What's going on at ANU right now is quite extraordinary. ANU made a $135m surplus last year and has billions of dollars of assets and reserves. Suddenly VC Genevieve Bell is declaring she needs to save $250m this year https://t.co/V5CTD6Yl3b
— Ben Eltham (@beneltham) October 15, 2024
“ANU made a $135m surplus last year and has billions of dollars of assets and reserves. Suddenly VC Genevieve Bell is declaring she needs to save $250m this year.”
Guardian Australia understands the surplus mentioned by Eltham is made up of investment income and insurance proceeds still being paid from a major hail storm in 2020, neither of which can be paid towards operating expenses such as wages.
Guardian Australia also understands the university has a cumulative operating deficit of almost $400m over the past three years.
• This article was amended on 17 October 2024 to clarify that the vote of ANU staff at Wednesday’s rally was indicative, rather than formal.
