“Staff at Victoria were disturbed to learn through the media that the Vice Chancellor is working through redundancy planning,” said Dougal McNeill, Victoria University Tertiary Education Union Co-President. “There is no case for cuts: coronavirus is a nation-wide medical issue, and it demands a nation-wide, coordinated response across public education, including from government. Cuts and job losses are a short-term response that will do long-term damage to student learning, our communities, and our University. There is no justification for job losses.”

“Academic and general staff at Victoria are already feeling overworked from budget cuts,” McNeill continued, “and the kind of teaching adaptation that might be needed to respond to further cases demand more resources, not less. Our students need certainty and support in this community of learning. Announcing plans for job losses through the media doesn’t help with that. The Tertiary Education Union will fight any job losses at Victoria.”

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