6 November 2015
Tertiary Education Union - Te Hautū Kahurangi o Aotearoa
Unitec privatises 55 student support jobs
Unitec’s plan to take jobs from 55 people who support students, and hand them to a private call centre is a travesty
says TEU national president Sandra Grey.
Grey says most TEU members’ jobs are not directly affected at this point because the union represents mostly academic
staff at the polytechnic, but they are deeply concerned about the impact the restructuring will have on their
administration colleagues and their students.
Unitec’s chief executive Rick Ede told staff today that he has decided to privatise Unitec’s student support services
and proceed with further plans which could lead to 300 people losing their jobs.
Sid Suha Aksoy, who works at Unitec says staff are in shock.
“I am very disappointed. Unitec has not listened to all our positive approaches. We are really worried about what this
means for our colleagues, friends and, naturally, our students. We can’t see why Unitec would want to fix something that
works so well.”
Aksoy says union members will protest the decision next Friday, 13 November.
“We have a positive alternative that gives students a better education and Unitec a better future. Unitec has time to
choose this better path for its students and the people who work for its students.”
ends