About 200 jobs are set to be saved in the University of Wollongong's post-COVID restructuring process, after staff unions and management came to an agreement on workplace changes.
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No pay cuts will be accepted by staff, and no forced redundancies will be enacted before May next year under the deal, which needs to be approved by union members, and which was made public by the university this afternoon.
About 150 jobs will still go, but this is well below the 350 UOW said would be cut two weeks ago.
Agreement was reached shortly before midnight on Wednesday, the deadline set for an outcome.
The university had been seeking to have staff agree to 10-15 per cent pay reductions for more than a year in order to save jobs, with 350 positions to be cut if staff did not agree.
The agreement would be a major win for staff unions, which had refused to accept the pay cuts. Forced back to the negotiating table, the university has found other ways to make the savings required.
Instead of pay cuts, staff will forgo pay rises for the next two years, and academic staff will also forgo incremental raises upon promotion. There will be some compulsory purchases of "special additional leave", and UOW has promised no stand-downs of staff.
Staff will also agree to do some work outside their usual duties when required.
UOW has also agreed to regularly brief the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and Community and Public Sector Union on the institution's finances, in the interests of transparency.
The proposal is being put to union members by representatives over the next 24 hours.
"Since the very beginning of our response to COVID-19, the University's priorities have remained protecting the health and safety of students and staff, upholding the quality of our teaching and research and safeguarding our financial viability while preserving as much employment as possible," Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings said.
"I want to thank all those involved in these discussions for their openness and professionalism that have helped us achieve this milestone.
"I look forward to a positive endorsement from local union members to support the steps their representatives have taken with us to protect as many local jobs and household livelihoods as possible while we work together to prepare for a post-COVID-19 world."
NTEU assistant national secretary Damien Cahill declined to comment until members had had their say at a meeting planned for tomorrow.
An earlier version of this story said no forced redundancies 'below the minimum' would come before next May. In fact, there will be no forced redundancies before then.
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Ben Langford
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
Senior journalist writing on the environment. Opinion columnist, independent. We rely on your news tips so please, don't be shy to let us know what's going on.
