Staff at the University of Melbourne have knocked back proposed changes to their enterprise agreement, which would have stripped them of a recent pay rise in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Along with dumping the 2.2 per cent pay rise, the proposed changes would have created new voluntary redundancy provisions with reduced entitlements.
The National Tertiary Education Union says 64 per cent of staff voted against the proposed on Thursday, or 5190 people.
Another 2879 staff voted in favour.
The union argues the university has more than enough cash reserves to deal with the financial fallout of COVID-19, including lower revenue from fees in 2020.
NTEU National Councillor and University of Melbourne branch committee member Katie Wood said despite that, union officials are confident the Vice Chancellor will try to make staff pay for the impacts of the illness.
“We will continue to campaign at the University of Melbourne against job losses, pay cuts, and restructures,” Ms Wood said.
“We encourage our colleagues across the sector to vote no on their campuses as well. If you don’t fight, you lose.”
Australian Associated Press